President-elect Donald Trump threatened on Saturday that the United States would regain control of the Panama Canal if it believed Panama was not complying with the terms of a 1977 treaty on its legal status.
In two lengthy Truth Society posts on Saturday nightTrump accused Panama of charging exorbitant fees for U.S. ships to transit the critical waterway. He also claimed that the treaty that gave Panama control of the canal in the first place also allowed the United States to take it back.
“If the moral and legal principles of this generous gesture of donation are not adhered to, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety without question,” Trump wrote.
It’s unclear what prompted Trump’s diatribe against the canal. Although China has stepped up its influence in Latin America over the past two decades — and a Hong Kong-based company manages two ports at either end of the canal — there is virtually no Chinese commercial or government entity involved in managing ship traffic. Play any direct role through critical waterways.
The canal is managed by the Panama Canal Authority, an independent government agency in Panama, and China has made no public moves in recent months to buy the canal or expand its influence in the country.
Meanwhile, Panama recently elected José Raul Mulino as president. Mulino has Promise to bring Panama closer to U.S..
In 1903, the United States signed a treaty with the newly independent state of Panama, allowing the United States to develop a long-desired canal across the isthmus, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and pay Panama from the revenue generated by the canal. In exchange, the United States would guarantee the neutrality of the canal and give the Panamanian government control of land on both sides of the waterway. The area, known as the Panama Canal Zone, is administered by the United States, and U.S. law applies to residents in the area.
But after decades of tensions surrounding the canal, the Carter administration signed two treaties with Panamanian military dictator Omar Torrijos in 1977, handing control of the vital shipping channel to Panama. Under the terms of these treaties, Panama would gain control of the canal by 1999, while the United States would retain the right to defend the canal against any threats to its neutrality.
However, analysts do not believe that these provisions in the treaty would allow the United States to legally regain control of the canal.
