PANAMA. Another crisis erupts in the world. This time we are in Panama and the object of dispute is the Canal.
An image of the Panama Canal
The United States relinquished its control to Panama on December 31, 1999 under a treaty signed in 1977 under President Jimmy Carter.
This part of the agreement falls within a broader framework of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The first was the leader in fact of the military junta that had seized power in Panama in the 1968 coup.
They abrogated the previous Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty of 1903 which guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Canal of the same name after 1999, ending the control the United States had exercised over the Canal since 1903.
The first Treatise is officially titled as The Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal (Treaty on the Permanent Neutrality and Operability of the Panama Canal) and is commonly known as the Neutrality Treaty.
Under it, the United States had the continuing right to defend the Canal from any threat that might interfere with its continued neutral accessibility to transiting vessels of all Nations.
The second is titled The Panama Canal Treaty (Panama Canal Treaty) and envisaged that from 12.00 on January 1, 2000, Panama would assume full control of the operations of the Canal and would become primarily responsible for its defense.
In 1989 with Operation Just Causethe United States deposed its leader in fact of Panama Manuel Noriega, taking possession of the Canal and maintaining its occupation until 1999.
They finally returned its management under the second treaty agreement in 2000.
Today, President-elect Donald Trump suggested that his new Administration might try to regain control that Washington “recklessly” ceded to its Central American ally.
The newly elected US President, Donald Trum
Speaking at his first post-election rally in Arizona, Trump complained that Canal authorities are collecting “ridiculous” fees from ships that pass through it given its importance to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“Our Navy and our commerce have been treated very unfairly and recklessly,” Trump told his supporters. The taxes charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been granted to Panama. It will end. The United States has a great and personal interest in the safe, efficient, and reliable operation of the Panama Canal.”
The Canal is critical to Panama's economy and generates about a fifth of the government's annual revenue. Not only that. It depends on reservoirs to operate its locks. It was heavily affected by drought in Central America in 2023 which forced it to substantially reduce the number of daily slots for ship crossings.
Furthermore, given that there are fewer ships using the Canal on a daily basis, administrators have also increased the fees charged to all shippers for booking a slot. However, despite the improved climate, further increases are expected.
And Trump has forcefully stated that when he is President “this complete rip-off of the United States will cease immediately.” Otherwise, he said, the Canal could “be returned to the United States of America in full and without questions asked.”
Without adding anything more specific.
Meanwhile, the response from the President of Panama José Raúl Mulino was ready and he categorically rejected the fact that Washington could try to regain control of the Canal.
The President of Panama José Raúl Mulino
“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its surroundings belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama,” he said. The sovereignty and independence of our country are non-negotiable,”
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