Daily Editorial

US President-elect Donald Trump’s remark that he would not rule out the use of military force to secure control over the Panama Canal has sparked a fresh debate and thrown the spotlight on the critical global waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

“The Panama Canal is vital to our country, it’s being operated by China…we gave the Panama Canal to Panama, we didn’t give it to China and they’ve [Panamanians] abused it; they’ve abused that gift,” Trump said, prompting a swift and firm response from Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha. “The only hands that control the canal are Panamanian, and that’s how it will continue to be,” Martinez-Acha hit back.