Trump said on Sunday that he would demand a quick return of the Panama Canal to US ownership due to high fees for its passage. The politician said that the Panama Canal was critically important for US trade, as well as for the rapid deployment of US Navy forces in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He added that the United States was the largest user of the canal, providing over 72% of all passage through it.
"I will be on the side of Panama and the defense of its sovereignty … If the new US administration wants to talk business, we will talk business face to face and for the good of our people, but we will never negotiate honor and dignity," Petro said on X.
Commenting on Trump's statement on Sunday, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said that the country's sovereignty was non-negotiable and that the Panama Canal fully belonged to Panama under the 1977 treaty.
The Panama Canal is an artificial waterway on the territory of Panama in Central America, crossing the Isthmus of Panama at its lowest point and connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is one of the most important transportation waterways of international importance.