President-elect Donald Trump suggested over the weekend that the United States recapture the Panama Canal, a notion that was quickly rejected by Panama’s government, which has overseen the waterway for decades.
In social media tweets and remarks to supporters, Trump accused Panama of charging the US “exorbitant rates” to use the canal and alluded to growing Chinese influence over the vital waterway.
“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially given the extraordinary generosity bestowed on Panama by the United States,” Trump tweeted on Truth Social on Saturday.
The US-built canal opened in 1914 and was managed by the US until a 1977 agreement called for its ultimate transfer to Panama. Both countries shared responsibility for the canal until 1999, when the Panamanian government took exclusive administration.
Speaking to an audience of young conservatives in Phoenix on Sunday, Trump stated that if the spirit of the agreement is not followed, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States.” So, Panamanian officials, please be instructed properly.”
It’s unclear how seriously Trump is taking his threat to reclaim control of the canal, while he has previously stated that the United States is getting a terrible deal. The president-elect has not explained how he would force a sovereign, friendly country to forfeit its own territory.
And the Panamanian administration rejects Trump’s offer.
In a statement on Sunday, President José Raúl Mulino stated that every square meter of the Panama Canal and surrounding region belongs to PANAMA and will remain so.
“The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable,” according to him.
A complicated and violent history
Before the canal was completed, ships going between the Americas’ east and west coasts had to sail around Cape Horn, South America’s southern tip, adding thousands of miles and several months to their voyages.
Creating a conduit that would reduce the journey had been an elusive dream for various civilizations with colonies in the Americas.
In the early twentieth century, President Theodore Roosevelt prioritized the development of a route. The territory was previously administered by the Republic of Colombia, but a US-backed insurrection resulted in the separation of Panama and Colombia, and the establishment of the Republic of Panama in 1903. That year, the US and the newly constituted republic negotiated a deal giving the US sovereignty of a 10-mile strip of land to build the canal in exchange for financial compensation.
The canal was completed in 1914, solidifying the United States’ position as an engineering and technological superpower, but it came at a high human cost. It was believed that approximately 5,600 persons died during the canal’s construction in the United States.
The canal’s usefulness was shown during World War II, when it served as a vital gateway for the Allied war effort between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, the relationship between the United States and Panama gradually deteriorated due to differences over canal authority, treatment of Panamanian workers, and whether the US and Panamanian flags should be flown together over the Canal Zone.
Those tensions peaked on January 9, 1964, when anti-American riots in the Canal Zone killed several people and temporarily severed diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Years of discussions for a more equitable arrangement resulted in two treaties signed during President Jimmy Carter’s presidency. The accords declared the canal neutral and available to all vessels, and they established joint US-Panamanian authority of the land until the end of 1999, when Panama would be granted full control.
“The people of Panama have been dissatisfied with the treaty because we have controlled a 10-mile-wide strip of land across the heart of their country, and they considered the original terms of the agreement to be unfair,” Carter stated in remarks to Americans after the treaties were signed. “It was drafted here in our country and was not signed by any Panamanian.”
At the time, the president said: “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 everyone agreed with Carter’s idea. In a 1976 address, then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan declared that “the people of the United States” are “the rightful owners of the Canal Zone.”
Tensions over the canal worsened again in the late 1980s under the reign of Manuel Noriega, who was deposed after the US invaded Panama as part of its “war on drugs.”
modern troubles
Shortly after the Panamanians regained complete control of the canal in 2000, cargo volume quickly exceeded its capacity. A large expansion project began in 2007 and was finished nearly ten years later.
However, the area surrounding the canal has been experiencing severe droughts, resulting in low water levels that have hampered its ability to function efficiently. Canal authorities have imposed traffic restrictions and increased costs for using the canal.
These fees appear to be one component of Trump’s problem with the canal. The president-elect slammed them on Sunday as “ridiculous” and “highly unfair, especially given the extraordinary generosity bestowed upon Panama, I say, very foolishly, by the United States.”
Trump’s other assertion, that China is attempting to gain greater influence over Panama and the Canal Zone, is not without merit. Panama issued a joint communiqué in 2017 stating that it would maintain no official links with Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that China’s ruling Communist Party claims as its own territory. Since then, China’s influence in the canal region has expanded.
Mulino, Panama’s president, responded to Trump’s statements over the weekend, saying, “Rates are not a whim.” He also questioned the notion that China had overt control over the canal.
“The Canal has no control, direct or indirect, neither from China, nor from the European Community, nor from the United States or any other power,” stated Mulino in a prepared statement.
Trump’s words are the most recent example of the president-elect expressing a desire to acquire, or threatening to take or intrude on, territory belonging to a friendly foreign nation.
Since his win in November, Trump has mocked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by implying that his country should become the 51st US state.
During his first administration, Trump often suggested that the United States buy Greenland from Denmark. The island’s authorities stated that it is “not for sale.”
But Trump does not appear to be deterred. Over the weekend, the president-elect revived the concept while presenting his choice for ambassador to Denmark.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump stated as he made the announcement.