Panama Treaty Violated 2-2-25

Trump is restating the Monroe Doctrine as China continues to grow its presence on the American Continent. 

The Panama Canal is being considered for Re-annexation. China expanded its Belt and Road strategy to the Panama Canal.

What’s the history of the Panama Canal, and why is Trump threatening to retake control of it? By Michael Williams, CNN 1-8-25.

President-elect Donald Trump is not letting up on his suggestions that the US should retake the Panama Canal, an idea that has been rejected by the government of Panama, which has controlled the passage for decades.

In social media posts and remarks to supporters, Trump has accused Panama of charging the US “exorbitant rates” to use the canal and hinted at growing Chinese influence over the crucial waterway. And at an hour-long news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, he said the nearly half-century-old decision by the US to hand over control of the canal was a “terrible thing to do.”

The US-built canal was opened in 1914 and controlled by the United States until a 1977 agreement provided for its eventual handover to Panama. The canal was jointly operated by both countries until the Panamanian government retained full control after 1999.

In the early 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt made the completion of a passageway a priority. The territory was at the time controlled by the Republic of Colombia, but a US-supported revolt led to the separation of Panama and Colombia and the formation of the Republic of Panama in 1903. The US and the newly formed republic signed a treaty that year that gave the US control over a 10-mile strip of land to build the canal in exchange for financial reimbursement.

The canal’s practicality was demonstrated during World War II, when it was used as a critical passageway for the Allied war effort between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. But the relationship between the US and Panama slowly disintegrated over disagreements about control over the canal, treatment of Panamanian workers, and questions about whether the US and Panamanian flags should be flown jointly over the Canal Zone.

Years of negotiations for a more equitable agreement led to two treaties during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. The agreements declared the canal neutral and open to all vessels and provided for joint US-Panamanian control of the territory until the end of 1999, when Panama would be given full control.

“Because we have controlled a 10-mile-wide strip of land across the heart of their country and because they considered the original terms of the agreement to be unfair, the people of Panama have been dissatisfied with the treaty,” Carter said in remarks to Americans after the treaties were signed. “It was drafted here in our country and was not signed by any Panamanian.”

The then-president added: “Of course, this does not give the United States any right to intervene in the internal affairs of Panama, nor would our military action ever be directed against the territorial integrity or the political independence of Panama.”

Not everybody supported Carter’s plan. In a 1976 speech, then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan said that “the people of the United States” are “the rightful owners of the Canal Zone.”

Tensions over the canal deteriorated again in the late 1980s under the rule of Manuel Noriega, who was removed from power after the US invaded Panama as part of the “war on drugs.”

Shortly after the Panamanians retained full control of the canal in 2000, shipping volume quickly exceeded the waterway’s capacity. A massive expansion project began in 2007 and was completed nearly a decade later.

But the area around the canal has been experiencing severe droughts, leading to lower water levels that hindered its ability to function properly. Canal authorities have set restrictions on traffic and imposed higher fees to traverse the canal.

Those fees appear to form one part of Trump’s issue with the canal. The president-elect last month described them as “ridiculous” and “highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama, I say, very foolishly, by the United States.”

Trump’s other claim, that China is seeking to exert more control over Panama and the Canal Zone, is not without merit. In 2017, Panama signed a joint communique that stressed it would not maintain any official ties with Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China’s ruling Communist Party claims as its own territory. Since then, China’s influence in the area around the canal has grown.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/23/politics/panama-canal-history-trump/index.ht

Comments

The Panama Canal problem is real. Trump will confront both China and Panama on this issue. Panama has not lived up to their Treaty Agreement and China is violating the Monroe Doctrine.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader