Panama should not return control of its namesake canal to the United States, Panamanians say, despite President Donald Trump’s calls that “we are taking it back.”
When Panama formally took control of canal operations from the United States in 1999, most people thought the matter was closed, but when it proposed an engineering marvel linking the oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the issue reared its head during his campaign. We need to return to US control.
Trump reiterated that claim in his first speech this week, saying, “China runs the Panama Canal” and “we’re taking it back.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Panama during a tour of Latin America and the Caribbean that begins late next week.
Panamanian President José Raul Mulino, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said he and other Panamanian leaders this week will bring the canal under his country’s authority and seek international support. I rejected this concept because I tried to get .
Among those leaders is Jorge Luis Quillano, a former canal administrator who insists that Panama runs the waterway, not China. He also disputed Trump’s complaints that U.S. ships pay more to transit the canal than other countries.
“A Panamanian-flagged ship pays as much as an American-style ship,” Quijano said, noting that fees are based on the size of the ship, with large container ships paying as much as $1.2 million to transit the 51-mile waterway. He added that you can also pay in dollars. It cuts through the isthmus of Panama.
Quijano said that after graduating from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, in 1975, he began working on the canal when the United States was still in control. He said that when he started, the American was a supervisor, but the Panamanian eventually became a manager, and “the American retired.”
“I watched the whole movie,” said Quijano, who witnessed the transition during his 44 years working at the Canal, eventually becoming vice president of operations and leading the turnaround effort that expanded the channel’s capabilities in 2016. I joked about doing it.
Humberto Arcia, 72, who lived two miles from the canal in the Chorrillo neighborhood as a child, said he will never forget the price Panamanians paid for the right to operate the canal in their country. I did.
The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, signed in 1903, gave the United States the right to build and manage the Panama Canal. Construction began in 1904 after a French construction team’s attempt to build an ambitious passage failed.
The massive project claimed the lives of more than 5,000 construction workers and 350 U.S. citizens by the time it was completed in 1914. Most workers were from Caribbean countries.
Relations between Panama and the United States were marked by riots and demonstrations against American involvement in the Central American nation’s affairs and control of the canal.
In 1964, according to the U.S. National Archives, anti-American riots occurred because the Panamanian flag was not allowed to fly next to the U.S. flag at Balboa High School in the U.S.-controlled canal zone, where American students participated. It broke out in Panama. The Canal Zone was a 10-mile concession in the United States where canal employees and their families lived.
The protests escalated, with students from multiple high schools outside the Canal Zone marching to the entrance. There, at least 20 people were killed in clashes with the U.S. military, National Guard and Canal Zone police during three days of unrest. The protests are commemorated on January 9 of each year, a national holiday known as Martyrs’ Day.
Althea, a retired banker and lawyer, remembers the student’s relatives talking about their loss when they lived near the canal. “Their suffering changed the lives of families forever,” he said.
Although the uprising was a turning point in Panama’s history, it was not until 1977 that President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian military leader Omar Torrijos signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaty, which ultimately led to oversight of Panama. There wasn’t.
The Panama Canal Authority assumed full management on December 31, 1999.
American historian David McCullough writes in his book The Path the Seas: Achieved. Mainly canals are an expression of an old and noble desire to bridge divisions, to bring people together. That is the work of civilization. ”
The Panama Canal was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World in 1994.
Today, the canal is one of the most important trade routes in the United States and a top source of revenue for Panama. According to the U.S. State Department, the canal generates more than $5 billion in annual revenue to the nation’s coffers.
According to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), ships passing through generate revenue, but the canal also attracts businesses that create jobs in industries such as logistics, insurance and banking.
Panamanians say the canal is part of their national identity.
Marjorie Miller, a Panamanian business consultant, said her great-grandfather, John Miller, moved to Panama from Jamaica and worked on the canals. According to U.S. Census Bureau records, he lived with other canal workers in an American labor camp known as the Red Tank.
“Because of my ancestors, I always knew how important the canal was to our country,” she said. “The Panama Canal is Panama. It’s our greatest asset.”
Miller said he was frustrated by comments Panamanians posted on social media about how the United States could do a better job of running the canal than Panama.
“The comments come from ignorance,” she said, adding that many young people in her country lack the historical knowledge to understand the importance of the canal to Panama.
Miller also said Trump’s comments about China’s involvement in canal operations may have arisen because Panama broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2017 and established ties with China instead.
“We were friends one day, and now we’re hearing, ‘We want your canal,'” she said. “That’s a big change when the United States is our largest trading partner.”
Mao Zedong, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a news briefing Wednesday that Trump’s comments about China and the canal are baseless.
“Panama’s sovereignty and independence are non-negotiable, and the Panama Canal is not under the direct or indirect control of any power,” Mao said. “China does not participate in the management or operation of the canal. China has never interfered. We respect Panama’s sovereignty over the canal and recognize it as a permanently neutral international waterway. ”
Quijano, a former vice president of operations, said the U.S. could easily run the canal because engineers undergo 12 years of training to learn the complex system of locks and water elevators that run through the canal. I said I doubted it could be done.
“If he wants to get it back and then we’re going to do it for him, the answer is no,” he said. “We all need to respect treaties and national sovereignty.”
Arcia, who grew up near the canal, said Trump needs to change his tone on Panama. “What we always want is a beautiful relationship of equality, not submission.”
