Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino fired again Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump twice threatened to take management of the Panama Canal.

“As president, I need to specific clearly that each sq. meter of the Panama Canal and its adjoining zone belongs to Panama, and can proceed to take action,” Mulino mentioned in a strident video assertion. “The sovereignty and independence of our nation should not negotiable.”

He added: “The canal will not be below direct or oblique management, neither by China, nor by the European neighborhood, nor by the US, nor by another energy. As a Panamanian, I strongly reject any manifestation that distorts this actuality.”

Panama “respects different nations and calls for respect,” he insisted.

Trump once more emphasised Sunday in an tackle earlier than the conservative Turning Level USA “Americafest” in Phoenix that he’s ready to take again the Panama Canal as a result of he’s indignant about “exorbitant’ use charges.

He additionally mentioned in a day submit on Fact Social that America’s “management and possession” of Greenland from Denmark is an “absolute necessity” for world “safety” and “freedom.” He made the startling name as he introduced PayPal co-founder Ken Hoswery as his choose to be U.S. ambasador to Denmark .

Trump first raised the menace concerning the Panama Canal in two lengthy Fact Social postst Saturday, calling the canal a “important” American “asset.”

He added: “Our Navy and Commerce have been handled in a really unfair and injudicious means. The charges being charged by Panama are ridiculous, particularly understanding the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S.”

“Has anybody ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump requested the Turning Level crowd Sunday. “As a result of we’re being ripped off on the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off in all places else.”

He vowed “swift motion” on the matter in his remarks.

“It was given to Panama and to the individuals of Panama, but it surely has provisions. You bought to deal with us pretty and so they haven’t handled us pretty,” Trump insisted.

“If the rules, each ethical and authorized, of this magnanimous gesture of giving should not adopted, then we are going to demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the US of America in full, rapidly and with out query,” Trump added.

An viewers member shouted out: “Take it again!” Trump responded: “That’s a good suggestion.”

Panama costs charges for boats and ships to make use of the canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They will range from $0.50 to $300,000. The U.S. handed Panama management of the canal in 1999. The U.S. is by far the most important consumer of the canal.

America constructed the canal within the early 1900s to enhance journey for American business and navy vessels between its coasts with out having to go round South America. Washington turned over management of the waterway to Panama in 1999 below a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. Trump referred to as the deal “silly” on Sunday.

Molino defended the charges, saying they’re vital, and are decided after open hearings making an allowance for market circumstances, worldwide competitors, working prices and upkeep and modernization.

“We’re a rustic open to dialogue, at the moment and all the time, to investments and good relations, however with the clear motto that the nation comes first,” he emphasised.

“That, for this Panamanian president, will not be negotiable.”