President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States take over the Panama Canal, a shipping lane that traverses Central America, unless fees for using the canal are reduced.
Panama’s leader countered in a recent statement, saying the waterway was not for sale. Since then, Trump has repeatedly posted about the channel.
It is the latest in a series of similar statements from Trump, who recently proposed the United States Take over Greenlandan idea that he also floated during his first presidency. He also made jokes about Canada to be a US state.
Here’s what you should know about the history of the Panama Canal and the United States’ involvement in the shipping route.
History of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal was built by the United States between 1904 and 1913 and opened in 1917. The canal’s construction cost approximately $375 million, making it the most expensive construction project in U.S. history at the time Panama Canal Authority. Thousands Workers died during the strenuous construction process.
The canal connects the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean, providing ships with a shortcut to avoid avoiding the tip of South America. The canal revolutionized shipping in the region.
The United States acquired the rights to build and operate the canal in the early 20th century, but at the time Panama was in the process of secession from Colombia, whose Senate refused to ratify a treaty that would allow the canal to be built Office of the State Department Historian.
CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
To ensure that the canal could be built, then-President Theodore Roosevelt supported Panamanian independence, and in 1903 the United States and Panama signed a treaty establishing permanent U.S. rights to a “Panama Canal Zone” that extended across the entire country. However, the person negotiating on Panama’s behalf did not have formal approval from the country’s government and had not lived in the country for 17 years, leading many Panamanians to question the validity of the treaty, according to the Office of the Historian.
Throughout the 20th century, the United States and Panama struggled with tensions over the canal, including an uprising in the 1960s that led to a brief break in diplomatic relations between the countries. In 1967, the United States and Panama began negotiating a new treaty and eventually reached an agreement, but a change in elected leaders and a coup in Panama led to the formation of a new government in the Central American country, according to the Office of the Historian. As a result, the negotiations “suffered a severe setback”.
The negotiations lasted until the 1970s. When Jimmy Carter was elected president, he made completing the negotiation process a priority, and in 1977 two treaties were introduced to the US Senate: the Neutrality Treaty, which stated that the US could use its military to defend the canal, which was a ” U.S. Perpetual Agreement” allowed “use” of the waterway and the Panama Canal Treaty, which would end the existence of the Panama Canal Zone and allow the canal to be handed over to Panama in December 1999. Under the second treaty, Panama would also become the main canal responsible for the defense of the canal.
The contracts, summarized as “ Torrijos-Carter contractswere signed on September 7, 1977. In the spring of 1978, the U.S. Senate voted to ratify the treaties, and Carter signed them into law on September 27, 1979. The channel was relocated to Panama on December 31, 1999, during the Clinton administration.
HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Who runs the Panama Canal?
The Panama Canal has been owned and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, a government agency, since 1999. The authority was created shortly before the canal was returned to Panama.
Since taking control of the waterway, the Panama Canal Authority has invested billions in expanding the canal. A $5.25 billion expansion of the canal opened in 2016 doubled the waterway’s capacity and reduced global maritime costs by an estimated $8 billion per year. CBS News previously reported. Expansion was also possible larger ships pass.
Who uses the Panama Canal?
About 40% of global cargo ship traffic passes through the Panama Canal. CBS News previously reportedalthough recent droughts have forced operators to reduce ship crossings.
About two-thirds of the canal’s traffic is either toward or from the United States, although ships from around the world use the waterway daily, the release said Panama Canal Authority.
Tarina Rodriguez/Bloomberg via Getty Images
According to the agency, between 13,000 and 14,000 ships use the canal each year.
Trump and the Panamanian president clash
Trump initially appeared to suggest that the United States should take over the Panama Canal TruthSocial post on December 21st.
He also brought up the issue to a crowd of supporters at Turning Point’s AmericaFest on Sunday, where he said Panama was charging “exorbitant prices” and said the “complete rip-off of our country will stop immediately.”
“If the moral and legal principles of this generous gesture of giving are not followed, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly and without questions,” Trump said.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would nominate Kevin Marino Cabrera, a member of the Miami-Dade International Trade Consortium, will be US ambassador to Panama. In it noticeHe accused Panama of “ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.”
Trump continued to post online about the U.S. regaining ownership of the channel and referenced the channel in a Christmas message shared on TruthSocial. He warned of possible Chinese influence on the shipping lane, although there was no Chinese presence on the canal Reuters. A Hong Kong-based company manages two ports along the canal, Reuters said.
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino said in a Statement shared on social media that “every square meter” of the canal “belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”
“We’ll see!” Trump wrote online in response.
