Jim Hartman: Trump and the Panama Canal

Jim Hartman

Jim Hartman

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“Our Navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama – I say very foolishly, by the United States,” President Trump said Dec. 23.

“This complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop. We will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly and without question. I’m not going to stand for it,” he added.

Trump’s threat to retake the canal came out of the blue, inflaming Panamanians. But Trump’s view is nothing new.

In 2017, Panama cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established relations directly with China.

The next year, despite U.S. warnings, Panama became the first Latin American country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a sweeping infrastructure program intended to extend Chinese Communist Party influence across the globe.

Two seaports on either side of the Panama Canal are managed by a Hong Kong-based company. China’s spreading influence in Latin America is real.

Panama’s current pro-American President Jose Raul Mulino immediately pushed back saying Panama will defend its interests.

Trump’s claim that Panama is gouging Americans is unfounded. Every vessel, regardless of flag, pays the same rate according to tonnage and type. Container ships, which carry finished goods, pay more than bulk carriers. About 75% of the total price is a toll and 25% is for services like tugboats or locomotives.

The Panama Canal Authority is run as a business independent from the government of Panama and not controlled by China.

President Jimmy Carter claimed negotiating two Panama Canal Treaties in 1977 and their U.S. Senate ratification in 1978 as one of his greatest accomplishments.

The first, the Neutrality Treaty, stated the U.S. could use its military to defend the Panama Canal against any threat to its neutrality, thus allowing perpetual U.S. usage of the canal.

The second, the Panama Canal Treaty, stated the Panama Canal Zone would cease to exist on Oct. 1,1979, and the canal would be turned over to the Panamanians on Dec. 31,1999.

After nine weeks of contentious debate, the Senate ratified both treaties by identical votes of 68 to 32, with 16 Republicans joining 52 Democrats, two votes over the required two-thirds majority. Sen. Joe Biden, then 35 years old, voted yes.

The U.S. gained rights to build and operate the canal by treaty in 1903, but protests followed prompting new treaties in 1936 and 1955. Further negotiations were undertaken by Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford.

In the 1976 presidential election, Ford supported a new canal treaty, but his GOP primary challenger, Ronald Reagan, did not.

Reagan rallied conservatives to his banner with a furious attack on the Panama Canal “giveaway.”

“We bought it, we paid for it, it’s ours, and we’re going to keep it,” Reagan proclaimed.

Carter seemed to oppose a treaty in 1976 but changed his views in 1977 after his election.

Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt, Reagan’s presidential campaign chair in 1976,1980 and 1984, led the Senate fight against Carter’s Panama Canal treaties in 1978.

He built a coalition of opponents winning plaudits from both sides of the treaty debate and in the national media for respecting the sensitivities of Panamanians.

On the day of the vote, Laxalt was confident he would secure the 34 votes needed to defeat the treaty, but his Nevada Senate colleague, Democrat Howard Cannon, switched sides to support it.

The U.S. turned over control of the canal to Panama which was friendly with the Cuban and Soviet governments.

“It’s absolutely essential that we retain the canal for security purposes, or else it might become a Russian choke-point,” Laxalt warned in 1978.

Today, the canal threatens to become a Chinese choke-point, validating Laxalt’s opposition.

E-mail Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.