As Panama’s president laid a wreath to honor those who died protesting the American occupation 60 years ago, the ceremony attendees were resolute.

The commemoration this month came just days after President-elect Donald J. Trump falsely claimed China was controlling the Panama Canal and suggested he could use military force to retake the waterway.

The threat rippled through a country still haunted by the events of 1964, when students trying to plant the Panamanian flag in the U.S.-occupied canal zone were met with deadly force.

“My brother did not die for nothing,” said Carlos E. Bonilla Cacó, whose brother was killed in the demonstrations that sparked the movement leading Panamanians to regain sovereignty.

The country’s leader agreed.

In the foothill near the Panama Canal Authority’s office, President José Raúl Mulino was firm. “The canal is and will continue to be Panamanian,” he said.