The administrator of the Panama Canal said Friday that the vital waterway will remain in Panamanian hands and open to commerce from all countries, rejecting claims by President-elect Donald Trump that the United States should take it over.

Treaties ratified by the Senate in 1978 established permanent neutrality, but some Republicans regret that decision.

If commercial fees are typically low and America’s navy already has cheap and preferential access, why is Mr Trump threatening to take the canal? The simplest answer may be that the president-elect is expressing geopolitical machismo,

Few took the president-elect’s combative comments at face value, but they still sent a shudder through a country that the United States has invaded before.

President-elect Donald Trump made international headlines this week after refusing to rule out military force to take back the Panama Canal, citing economic and security concerns regarding China. Trump has made U.