Panama President José Raúl Mulino has rejected the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.

Panama's president says the State Department's claim of an agreement granting U.S. warships free canal passage was "based on a falsity. And that's intolerable."

Panama denied a claim made by the State Department on Wednesday that the Central American nation had agreed to no longer charge fees for US government ships to transit the country’s famous canal.