The sovereignty of the Panama Canal is non-negotiable, underlined President Jose Raul Mulino in a statement released Monday and co-signed by former Panamanian presidents, following recent comments by US President-elect Donald Trump threatening to reclaim control of the canal.

On Saturday, Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on US ships using the man-made canal and suggested that Washington might demand control of the vital waterway be restored.

If Panama could not ensure "the secure, efficient and reliable operation" of the channel, "then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question," he warned.

In response, Mulino firmly dismissed Trump’s remarks on Sunday, stressing that "every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama."

The president reiterated this stance on Monday in a joint statement also signed by former leaders Ernesto Perez Balladares, Martin Torrijos, and Mireya Moscoso.

The statement emphasized that "the sovereignty of our country and our canal are not negotiable," adding that the canal "is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest."

The leaders issued the declaration after a meeting at the Panamanian government’s headquarters.

"Panamanians may think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our canal and our sovereignty, we all unite under the same flag."

Support for the declaration extended beyond the signatories, with former President Laurentino Cortizo expressing solidarity on social media, joined by ex-leader Ricardo Martinelli.

The Panama Canal, a critical 80-kilometer (50-mile) waterway facilitating 5% of global maritime trade, was built by the United States in 1914 and transferred to Panamanian control in 1999 under the terms of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter treaties. The canal’s primary users include the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, and Chile.

The member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) also strongly condemned the statements made by Trump.

The ALBA alliance said it unequivocally rejected this new threat to the Latin American and Caribbean region and expressed its full support for Panama in its efforts to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and right to self-determination.

Protests in Panama condemn Trump’s remarks on Canal control

In a related context, Panamanians took to the streets on Tuesday to denounce Trump after his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington.

Outside the US embassy in Panama City, protesters burned an image of Trump while chanting slogans such as "Trump, animal, leave the canal alone" and "Get out, invading gringo." Demonstrators carried banners branding Trump a "public enemy of Panama."

"The [Panamanian] people have shown that they are capable of recovering their territory and we are not going to give it up again," protester Jorge Guzman told AFP.

Saul Mendez, leader of a prominent construction union that co-organized the demonstration, echoed the sentiment, saying, "Panama is a sovereign territory and the canal here is Panamanian."

"Donald Trump and his imperial delusion cannot claim even a single centimeter of land in Panama," he underscored.