Panama Commemorates the Canal Transfer’s 25th Anniversary
Panama held a patriotic celebration on Tuesday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the United States’ delivery of the interoceanic canal.
In his celebration speech, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino declared, “(The Canal) will remain in our hands forever.” Donald Trump’s remark on Sunday that the U.S. new administration would attempt to retake control of the canal was vehemently rejected by Mulino.
At a rally, Trump said that the United States “foolishly” gave up the canal to its ally in Central America and that shipping must pay “ridiculous” rates to use the crucial route that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Mulino recalled the recently departed former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who signed the treaties of the historic transfer, during Tuesday’s celebration.
After being managed by the United States for 85 years, the interoceanic canal was returned to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999, when Panamanians came to the streets to participate in an act.
To make it easier for military and commercial ships to move between its ports, the United States constructed the Panama Canal in the early 1900s. On Dec. 31, 1999, Washington upheld a 1977 pact signed under President Jimmy Carter, ceding control of the waterway to Panama.
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