Panama President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday told reporters there will be no negotiation with the US over ownership of the Panama Canal, and he hopes Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Sunday visit will be more about shared interests than relinquishing the waterway, the AP reports.
“It’s impossible, I can’t negotiate,” Mulino said when asked about returning the Canal Zone to the US, adding “That is done. The canal belongs to Panama. “The only thing that I want is to clear all the garbage from the path, clean the table and be able to speak with the US and very frankly” about issues such as immigration, security, and fighting against drug trafficking.
The meeting will be Rubio’s first foreign trip as the United States’s top diplomat. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing as far as Mulino and the canal’s status are concerned.