Camel: Calling a HTTPS REST endpoint with a proxy

I'm consuming data from a REST endpoint with in the middle of the route a proxy. I'm having CNTLM running locally (localhost:3128 ): it will authenticate for me on the corporate proxy, so I don't need to pass my credentials.

I have been unable to get my rest call to work, despite numerous attempts. For e.g., getting:

• SSLException: Unrecognized SSL message
• Connection handshake abruptly terminated
• Connection reset
• you name it, have got it

Below the simplest version of the many attempts made. Apparently (from internet reading), that should work, but it doesn't.

How should Camel be configured, in particular camel-http ?

Notes: The REST API I'm calling is using HTTPS but doesn't require a certificate. The code works on my local machine when no proxy is involved. It fails on the intranet where there is a proxy

@Component
public class MyRoute extends RouteBuilder

    public void configure() throws Exception {

        //Tried different way to set the proxy, including inline with toD(...)
        System.setProperty("https.proxyHost", "localhost");
        System.setProperty("https.proxyPort", "3128");
        getCamelContext().getGlobalOptions().put("http.proxyHost", "localhost");
        getCamelContext().getGlobalOptions().put("https.proxyPort", "3128");
        getContext().getGlobalOptions().put("https.proxyHost", "localhost");
        getContext().getGlobalOptions().put("https.proxyPort", "3128");

        from("timer:credentials?repeatCount=1")
        .setHeader(Exchange.HTTP_METHOD, constant("POST"))
        .setBody(simple(jsonAuth))
        .to(baseUrlApi +"/v1/auth/tokens/?bridgeEndpoint=true")
        .unmarshal().json(JsonLibrary.Jackson, AuthResponseDto.class)
        .setHeader("Authorization", simple("Bearer ${body.data.accessToken.token}"))
        // etc..

    }
}