Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha responds to President Elect Trump

Panama has insisted that its sovereignty over the Panama Canal is non-negotiable after US President-elect Donald Trump expressed interest in seizing it.

Trump made the remark during a news conference on Tuesday at which he also falsely stated that the Panama Canal was being operated by Chinese soldiers.

Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha responded by saying that the only hands operating the canal are Panamanian and that is how it is going to stay.

The Panama Canal was managed by the US for decades before being handed over to the Panamanians on December 31, 1999 under a treaty signed by the late US President Jimmy Carter.

In his news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Trump described President Carter’s decision to hand the canal back as a big mistake.

He also expressed renewed interest in buying the Arctic island of Greenland – which is a self-governing territory of Denmark.

Panama’s foreign minister denies his country had received any kind of offer from Trump.