CNN
—

President-elect Donald Trump suggested over the weekend that the U.S. should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that was immediately rejected by the Panamanian government, which has controlled the passage for decades.

In social media posts and remarks to supporters, Trump accused Panama of charging the U.S. “exorbitant fees” for use of the canal and suggested that China’s influence over the crucial waterway was growing.

“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially given the extraordinary generosity the U.S. has shown to Panama,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

The U.S.-built canal opened in 1914 and was controlled by the United States until a 1977 agreement called for its final handover to Panama. The canal was operated jointly by both countries until the Panamanian government retained full control after 1999.

Trump told a group of young conservatives in Phoenix on Sunday that if the spirit of this agreement is not followed, “then we will demand the return of the Panama Canal to the United States.” So, to Panamanian officials, please be guided accordingly .”

It is not clear how seriously Trump is taking his threat to take back control of the canal, although he said over the weekend, not for the first time, that the US was getting a bad deal. The president-elect has not made clear how he would force a sovereign, friendly country to give up its own territory.

And the Panamanian government wants nothing to do with Trump’s proposal.

“As president, I want to make it clear that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent territory belongs and will continue to be part of PANAMA,” President José Raúl Mulino said in a statement on Sunday.

“The sovereignty and independence of our country are non-negotiable,” he added.

An eventful and deadly story

Before the canal’s completion, ships traveling between the east and west coasts of America would have to go around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, adding thousands of miles and several months to their journey.

Creating a passage that would shorten this journey was an elusive goal of several empires that had colonies in the Americas.

In the early 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt made completing a passageway a priority. The area was then controlled by the Republic of Colombia, but a U.S.-backed rebellion led to the separation of Panama and Colombia in 1903 and the creation of the Republic of Panama. The United States and the newly formed republic signed a treaty that year that gave the United States control of a 10-mile strip of land to build the canal in exchange for financial compensation.

The canal was completed in 1914, cementing the United States’ status as an engineering and technological superpower, but it came at enormous human cost. It is estimated that around 5,600 people died during the construction of the canal in the USA.

The canal’s practicality was demonstrated during World War II, when it was used as a key passageway for the Allied war effort between the Atlantic and the Pacific. But U.S.-Panama relations slowly disintegrated over disagreements over control of the canal, the treatment of Panamanian workers and whether the U.S. and Panamanian flags should be flown together over the Canal Zone.

These tensions reached their peak on January 9, 1964, when anti-American riots led to several deaths in the Canal Zone and a brief severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Years of negotiations for a fairer agreement resulted in two treaties during President Jimmy Carter’s administration. The agreements declared the canal neutral and open to all ships and provided for joint control of the territory between the United States and Panama until the end of 1999, when Panama gained full control.

“Because we controlled a 10-mile-wide strip of land in the heart of their country, and because they considered the original terms of the agreement unfair, the people of Panama were dissatisfied with the treaty,” Carter said in his statement to Americans after the treaties were signed had been. “It was drafted here in our country and not signed by a Panamanian.”

The then-President added: “Of course, this does not give the United States the right to intervene in Panama’s internal affairs, nor would our military action ever be directed against the territorial integrity or political independence of Panama.”

Not everyone supported Carter’s plan. In a 1976 speech, then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan said that “the people of the United States” were “the rightful owners of the Canal Zone.”

Tensions over the canal escalated again in the late 1980s under the rule of Manuel Noriega, who was ousted from power following the U.S. invasion of Panama as part of the “war on drugs.”

Shortly after the Panamanians retained full control of the canal in 2000, shipping volumes quickly exceeded the waterway’s capacity. A major expansion project began in 2007 and was completed nearly a decade later.

However, the area around the canal experienced severe droughts, resulting in lower water levels and affecting the canal’s proper functioning. Canal authorities have restricted traffic and charged higher fees for crossing the canal.

These fees appear to form part of Trump’s problem with the channel. The president-elect described it on Sunday as “ridiculous” and “highly unfair, especially given the extraordinary generosity that has been shown to Panama by the United States, which I think is very stupid.”

Trump’s other claim that China is seeking to exert more control over Panama and the Canal Zone is not without merit. In 2017, Panama signed a joint communiqué emphasizing that it would not maintain official relations with Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China’s ruling Communist Party claims as its own territory. Since then, China’s influence in the area around the canal has grown.

Responding to Trump’s comments over the weekend, Mulino, the Panamanian president, said: “Interest rates are not a whim.” He also rejected the idea that China was exercising overt control over the canal.

“The channel has no direct or indirect control, neither by China, nor by the European Community, nor by the United States, nor by any other power,” Mulino said in his statement.

Trump’s comments are the latest example of the president-elect expressing his desire to seize or threaten to capture or invade territory of a friendly foreign power.

Since his election in November, Trump has mocked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by suggesting his country become the 51st U.S. state.

During his first term, Trump repeatedly floated the idea that the U.S. could buy Greenland from Denmark. The island government said it was “not for sale.”

But Trump doesn’t seem to be dissuaded. Over the weekend, the president-elect revived the idea when he announced his choice as ambassador to Denmark.

“In the interest of national security and freedom around the world, the United States of America believes ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in announcing the election.