MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. US President-elect Donald Trump’s claims that he wants to regain control of the Panama Canal should not be taken seriously, as they are merely part of his political theatrics, a Russian expert told TASS.
"The new US president is known for his eccentricity. He has already stirred public outcry in many Latin American countries, which do not take kindly to ultimatums," said Vladimir Davydov of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Latin America.
According to the expert, Trump is just "playing politics" by making these comments, and people should take them with a grain of salt.
Commenting on the regional response to Trump’s statements, Davydov noted that "Latin America has changed and, obviously, the Trump administration will have to adapt to the new situation." "This is inevitable," he stressed.
As for how other countries feel about this, including Russia, he said that "everyone is worried." "This is one of the world’s most important routes, so naturally, any countries involved in the global shipping industry are uneasy about the uncertainty of the Panama Canal’s future," he explained.
Earlier, Trump suggested that the United States might seek control over the Panama Canal unless its usage terms are renegotiated. He slammed the Panamanian authorities for charging exorbitant fees for US ships transiting the Panama Canal, emphasizing that the US ceded it in 1999 as a show of good will, not as a concession to other nations.
Commissioned in 1914, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and stayed under its control until 1977 when the Torrijos-Carter agreement relinquished American control over the canal by 2000. Today, it remains a major route for the global economy and a key object of US interest.