After repeated threats by the designated US President, Donald Trump, to take over the Panama Canal, protests took place in front of the US Embassy in Panama City against the plan. “Donald Trump and his imperial delusion can claim no single inch of land in Panama” said a member of the Suntracs union participating in the protests. Trump was depicted on protest signs with a swastika and labeled as “enemy of the state.”
The president of the country, José Mulino, had previously stated that “every square meter of the Panama Canal and the adjacent areas belongs to and will continue to belong to Panama.” The sovereignty and independence of his country were not negotiable.
After Colombia refused to cede the canal area, Panama gained independence with US support in 1903, and the construction of the Panama Canal was made possible by a lease agreement from 1904 to 1914. The canal was returned to Panama on December 31, 1999.
Trump had complained on Sunday about the fees charged for the canal’s passage on his platform and criticized former President Jimmy Carter for the return of the canal area. “If the moral and legal principles of this generous gesture are not followed, we will demand the Panama Canal back in full and without question.” He repeated the demand at an event with his supporters, where he also described the ownership of Greenland as “absolute necessity” for national security, prompting Denmark to announce a billion-dollar investment in military presence in Greenland and the Arctic.