Rubio tells Panama to 'reduce China's influence' over the canal or face US action

I don't feel that there is any real threat at this time against the treaty, its validity, or much less of the use of military force to seize the canal,

Mulino told reporters

Sovereignty over the canal is not in question,

he said, proposing technical-level talks with Washington to clear up concerns

It was not given to China, it was given to Panama foolishly,

he told reporters as he returned to Washington from a weekend in Florida

The hostile words and deeds of the person who is in charge of the US foreign policy served as an occasion of confirming once again the US hostile policy toward the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) which remains unchanged,

North Korea’s foreign ministry said

Rubio’s coarse and nonsensical remarks only show directly the incorrect view of the new US administration on the DPRK and will never help promote the US interests as he wishes,

it added

If China wanted to obstruct traffic in the Panama Canal, they could. That's a fact... That's what President Trump is raising and we're going to address that topic... That dynamic cannot continue,

Rubio said on The Megyn Kelly Show last week

We could not cross into the canal zone without being arrested if we didn't follow all the American rules. The minute you stepped across that border, you were in the United States,

Mari said

What you see here — that the United States and Donald Trump want to take back the canal — that's what we call cause and effect,

says Andre Howell, a hotel worker in the historic centre of Panama City

I was the political leader of the opposition when Noriega said he was going to kill all the leaders of the opposition if the US were to invade,

recalled former Panama congressman Edwin Cabrera, speaking to the BBC by the locks of the canal's Pacific entrance

I heard the bombs and started seeing people dying... The only thing President Trump and Rubio have left to say is that they will invade us,

he told the BBC

There's a treaty that he has to respect, and there's nothing in the treaty that says that we cannot have ports run by the Chinese,

she told the BBC, pointing out

They're not administrating the Panama Canal the right way... No Panamanians have [the] benefits,

he said

The United States, I mean, think of this, spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38 lives in the building of the Panama Canal. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should never been made, and Panama's promise to us has been broken."

After being sworn in as the 47th US President at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, he said

In the name of the Republic of Panama and its people, let us consider integrally the words uttered by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal, in his inaugural speech. Again he expressed in his message to the Nation, last December 22: the Canal is and will continue to operate under Panamanian control with respect for its permanent neutrality. There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration,

he said

I don't think troops will be necessary in Panama,

he added

Ricky Rubiosecretary

Had the pleasure of meeting the incredible @USEmbPAN team during my first embassy meet and greet in my new role as Secretary of State!" ... Thankful for their dedication and ongoing efforts to promoting President Trump’s vision of an America First foreign policy."

Rubio wrote in a post on X

Ricky Rubiosecretary

We also discussed efforts to end the hemisphere’s mass migration crisis and ensure fair competition for U.S. firms,

Rubio added

Dusty Johnsonspeaker

More than 10,000 ships use the Panama Canal each year, generating billions of dollars of tolls which would economically benefit America,

Johnson's office said

We'll study the possibility of terminating it early,

he added

The canal is and will remain Panama's,

President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement published on social media