The Panama Canal Treaties: Jimmy Carter’s Monumental Failure

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President Donald Trump condemned the Panama Canal Treaties and said the U.S. should try to regain control of the Panama Canal Zone.  Trump said he would not rule out military or financial force at this week’s presser.

President Carter’s two Panama Canal Treaties are his legacy and should never have made him proud. They are typical of Carter, who often sold out the US to foreign powers, much as Biden has. Somehow, Democrats turned this national security failure into Carter’s proud legacy.

Ronald Reagan later said that the dictator who signed the treaty did not necessarily represent the people’s will.

The two treaties, The Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal and The Panama Canal Treaty – were agreed to in 1977 and endorsed by the U.S. Senate in 1978.

Carter’s treaties were negotiated with Colonel Omar Torrijos, a left-leaning dictator who had seized power from the elected President in Panama. Under these treaties, the U.S. supposedly retained the permanent right to defend the canal from any threat that might interfere with its continued neutral service to ships of all nations.

On December 31, 1999, they also allowed Panama to assume complete control of Panama Canal Zone operations and become primarily responsible for its defense.

Reagan strongly opposed it when he came into office.

RedState author Adam Turner listed some of the many reasons Reagan gave opposing the Canal treaties. For example, he said the Carter treaties were ambiguous and not in the US national interest. [Carter rarely acted in the national interest.] Reagan said they did not “guarantee” that the canal would be operated in the US’s interest. The term “expeditious passage” had no meaning.

The US built the Canal and spent all the money. The US paid Panama and its citizens for the rights and the land. It ran it at no profit and maintained its neutrality. It improved the lives of Panamanians, and there would be no Panama without the US.

The Origins of the Canal

After a failed attempt by the French to construct a canal, it was ultimately built by the United States between 1904 and 1914. The U.S. government managed the canal for several decades and managed it well. The US didn’t charge. It is now managed poorly, and it’s set up for profit.

The U.S. not only conceived of and paid for the Canal but also helped create the state of Panama. At the beginning of the 20th century, the isthmus of Panama was part of Colombia. Panama wanted independence. When Colombia rejected a proposed canal treaty, Colombia’s northern provinces eagerly seceded, forming the Republic of Panama. The United States Navy then kept Colombian troops from suppressing the rebellion.

U.S. control of the canal created tensions with Panamanian and Colombian communists. In 1964, anti-American riots broke out led by communists in the U.S.-controlled canal zone.

The rebels accused the US of imperialism.

As Reagan said, it was not a matter of imperial power since Panamanians wanted freedom from Colombia and tried more than 50 times.

The Damning Treaties

The riots led to the renegotiation of the Panama Canal treaties. In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Panamanian leader Omar Efraín Torrijos signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The agreements guaranteed the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal. After a period of joint custody, the treaties called for the United States to relinquish control over the canal by 2000.

Panama took full control in 1999 and has since operated the canal through the Panama Canal Authority.

We wanted to be popular and gave up the Canal. It didn’t work, and now we have a national security risk.

We gained nothing from turning the Canal over to Panama and lost a great deal. A Chinese-Communist-controlled Hong Kong company now runs the Canal, and China is buying up all the surrounding land.

Donald Trump said they are charging US ships outrageous fees.

In a statement of rebuke to Mr. Trump last month, President José Raúl Mulino of Panama wrote, “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belong to PANAMA.”

Some Panamanians wished the US would take control of the Canal back. A vote would be interesting.


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