President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend suggested the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that was immediately rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades.

Latin American leaders on Monday rallied to Panama's defense after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reimpose U.S. control over the Panama Canal, a key global shipping route located in the Central American nation.

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.