The President of the USA, Donald Trump, claimed in his speech to Congress during the night against Wednesday, Swedish time, that his government is on its way to regain control over the canal, which is crucial for world trade.
Trump referred to the American investment company Blackrock's purchase of a majority stake in a company that operates several harbors at the canal's outlet.
Panama's government emphasizes that it has full control over the canal and that the sale of the majority stake by the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings does not imply Chinese control over the waterway, and that the sale to a US-based company therefore does not mean that the USA "regains" the canal.
José Raúl Mulino writes in a post on X that "once again, President Trump is lying", and calls Trump's claim a "mockery of the truth and of our dignity as a nation".
"The canal is Panamanian and will remain Panamanian!", concludes the president.
The USA built the canal in the early 20th century to facilitate commercial and military vessels' passage from coast to coast. Washington handed over control of the waterway to Panama on December 31, 1999, according to a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. Trump has claimed that Carter "foolishly" gave away the canal.
