REDSTATE | Published January 11, 2025
When I first heard that Donald Trump was talking about reacquiring the Panama Canal, I thought, “He’s just trolling the world.” Now that I realize he isn’t, I thought I’d better bone up on the subject. I’ve known the history of it because it’s an amazing story of engineering and human will. It’s also fascinating that Ferdinand de Lesseps, the guy who built the Suez Canal, failed at building the Panama Canal, gave up, and left. Americans came in, took up the job, and ten years later, Voila!
About 5,000 Americans died constructing this, with many more suffering from malaria for the rest of their lives. Teddy Roosevelt, president at the time, gave Panama good terms after having run the Colombians out of the area, who were threatening to take over the isthmus. In more recent times, Ronald Reagan basically said, “We paid for it, we built it. It’s ours.” Until Jimmy Carter gave it away to the Panamanians in 1977. He thought it would enhance America’s image in the world as a great benevolent power, but just like all of the foreign aid we’ve given to the rest of the world for decades and decades, it did little in that regard and just about everybody on the planet still hates us. Oh well…
So here we are, 110 years after its completion and how has the picture changed? Well aside from the standard upkeep and modifications needed to keep the thing usable, the Chinese have moved into the neighborhood. Now, I was completely oblivious to that fact and learned that CK Hutchinson, a company moored up pretty tightly to the CCP, runs two port facilities located at each end of the canal. In 1997, they initiated a deal with the Panamanian government (two years before the US fully handed over the canal) to manage them.
Apparently, they have no plans to go anywhere. And this is a problem because Beijing is not our friend. They are expanding their holdings across the world, which means they are expanding their influence, and their influence undercuts our own interests. Letting the fox into the barn is bad for the animals.
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SOURCE: www.redstate.com
RELATED: The US is right to be concerned about China’s influence over the Panama Canal
ATLANTIC COUNCIL | Published January 11, 2025
President-elect Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric on territorial ambitions in the Western Hemisphere—ranging from retaking the Panama Canal and buying Greenland to annexing Canada—has generated significant attention and speculation about the incoming administration’s plans. Among these imperialist ambitions, the reclamation of the Panama Canal stands out as a focal point of immediate and relevant strategic significance. On Tuesday, Trump deliberately refused to rule out the use of military force, preserving maximum leverage in what has so far been a one-sided negotiation.
Why is Trump focused on these issues now? The incoming president’s remarks likely represent a calculated two-level game strategy: Internationally, Trump is looking to tackle rising canal transit fees while countering China’s expanding influence in the Western Hemisphere. Domestically, this rhetoric appeals to his political base. While the abrupt and public expressions of displeasure regarding Panama and the canal risk undermining hemispheric stability, legitimate concerns about growing Chinese influence over the canal demand Washington’s attention and warrant a measured, diplomatic approach.
Intervention to sovereignty
The Panama Canal’s origins and US intervention are inextricably intertwined. After failed negotiations with Colombia, the United States pivoted to support Panamanian independence in 1903, with President Theodore Roosevelt employing “gun boat diplomacy” to deter Colombian resistance to the movement. The reward for military support and US recognition of the Republic of Panama was the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which granted the United States perpetual control over a ten-mile-wide canal zone for ten million dollars down and $250,000 a year. After considerable investment of US blood and treasure, the US-built canal remains a remarkable engineering achievement and a critical artery of global trade. However, the 1903 political arrangement sowed deep-seated resentment over perceived infringements on Panamanian sovereignty.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter championed the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, aiming to foster goodwill and strengthen US-Panama relations. To secure Senate ratification, two treaties were negotiated: one for transfer of the canal by the turn of the millennium and the other to ensure permanent neutrality. The Senate ratified the treaties by the slimmest of margins. On December 31, 1999, Panama assumed control of the canal.
The Panama Canal is vital for global shipping, offering unmatched efficiency for trade between Asia and the Americas’ eastern ports. Alternatives such as overland transport or navigating Cape Horn add significant distance, cost, and environmental impact, while Arctic routes are seasonal and geopolitically constrained. As the most reliable maritime link between the Atlantic and Pacific, the canal remains irreplaceable.
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SOURCE: www.atlanticcouncil.com
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