Frequent droughts have pushed authorities to pursue a controversial plan to dam a river to save the waterway — an act that would flood the homes of thousands of people.

Since returning to office, President Trump has made repeated claims that China operates the Panama Canal and threatened to take it back from the Panama Canal Authority, which has controlled it since 1999.

Panama's president has said that he instructed the country's foreign minister to not discuss the U.S. government's allegations of Chinese interference in the operations of the Panama Canal with the visiting head of U.

The Trump administration threatening partners in the Americas may prove to be short-term tactical approach but it will not prove to be a viable long-term strategy for engaging economically with the region.

The U.S. president has announced several times in recent weeks that he intends to «bring back» the Panama Canal. His words bring back bad memories.