U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Mulino in early February and insisted that China was exerting influence over the canal’s operations. The focus was the Chinese consortium running the ports. Panama rejected that China had any influence over canal operations.

Panamanian leader says sale of a Chinese company’s port operation to a US firm does not amount to retaking the waterway.

President Donald Trump has called for the US to retake control of the Panama Canal unless the cost of passage for naval and merchant ships is slashed. Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of force is a throwback to the 19th century era of gunboat diplomacy.