Panama Canal: The 20,000 dead, the construction and the 1989 invasion – Why Trump wants it

Its birth as a nation is directly linked to their coming of age as a young imperial power after their victory in the 1898 Spanish-American.

As the Wall Street Journal reports in its extensive article, in the era of gunboat diplomacy with former Rough Rider Theodore Roosevelt as president, the US engineered the secession of Panama from 1903.

Aiming to project naval power, Washington embarked on what would later become known as the construction miracle of the early 20th century: The linking of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through a canal that would run through the deadly rainforests of Panama. Panamanian complaints about the American presence led President Jimmy Carter in 1977 to sign treaties that surrendered the waterway and required neutrality that guaranteed the peaceful passage of ships from all nations. The accords were approved by the US Senate despite strong opposition from conservatives.

Now, Trump’s bid to regain control of the waterway is the latest episode in the nearly 150-year-old canal saga.

Trump’s intervention

In particular, after his election, he surprised Panamanians in late December when he declared that the US should take back the canal, if necessary.

He said the canal was controlled by China and that American ships were overcharged. Panama’s pro-American president, Jose Raul Molino, has said the country will never return the aqueduct. “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belongs to Panama and will continue to belong,” said Molino, who took office in July.

What determines prices?

Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, which operates two container terminals on each side of the canal, has no control over the waterway, Panamanian officials say. A ship’s size, type and cargo determine rates, not its flag. John Feeley, Trump’s former ambassador to Panama, said the president’s obsession with the canal stems from his long-held belief — shared by many conservatives — that returning the canal to Panama was a bad idea.

Trump was angered when in 2017 Philly told the president that US Navy ships were paying tolls to pass through the waterway. Panamanian authorities say US Navy ships receive priority transit. “We don’t have to pay a dime,” Feeley said Trump replied. “We built it and Carter made a bad deal.”

The US Navy has paid just $25.4 million into the canal over the past 26 years, or less than a million dollars a year, according to the Panama Canal Authority. “It’s dust on the budget,” said Feeley, referring to a pittance in a Defense Department budget of nearly $900 billion this year.

On Tuesday, Panama denounced UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for Trump’s remarks, citing a violation of the UN Charter that requires member states to refrain from threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of nations .

Early setbacks in construction

As early as 1534, the Spanish crown commissioned the first study to open a canal in the 40-mile isthmus between the Atlantic and the Pacific to transport gold and silver from Peru to Spain. The original construction project of the Panama Canal began in 1880, led by the famous French diplomat and builder Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had distinguished himself by his triumph in the construction of the flat seawater Suez Canal in Egypt. However, the lush jungle and mountainous terrain proved to be insurmountable obstacles. De Lesseps was convicted of mismanagement and fraud.

France’s failure resulted in the death of approximately 20,000 workers, who were exposed to mosquito-borne malaria and yellow fever, most of whom came from the Caribbean.

Before the French attempt, an American company had already built a railroad that connected the two oceans to help thousands of Americans who wanted to join the California “gold rush” from the US East Coast in the mid-19th century. The Panama Railroad opened its doors in 1855.

From failures to success

In 1903, the US pushed for the independence of Panama, then a province of Colombia, as a prelude to the US canal project. The following year, the US took over the project and some of France’s abandoned machinery.

Unlike the Suez, the Panama Canal would rely on a complex system of locks to lift ships nearly 90 feet above sea level and lower them at the other end, using fresh water from a man-made lake. More than 5,600 people died during a decade-long construction project, including about 350 Americans. About 45,000 people worked on the project by the time it was completed in 1914, with two-thirds coming from Caribbean islands such as Barbados and Martinique. About 12,000 were European, mostly Spanish. Most senior managers, engineers and other skilled professionals were American.

The most expensive American engineering project

The engineering marvel of the time opened its doors in 1914. It was built at a cost of 375 million dollars, the then most expensive American engineering project ever.

The US was granted control of the Panama Canal Zone, an area approximately 10 miles wide along the entire 50 mile length of the canal. Many Panamanians saw the 553-square-mile enclave that bisected the tiny Central American nation and its people.

Filled with nearly two dozen military bases and installations, the zone featured home as well as shops, golf courses, a yacht club, American Legion posts and churches. It was commanded by a governor appointed by the US president and supervised by the secretary of defense.

In January 1964, 21 Panamanians were killed by US forces during riots caused by a group of high school students who wanted to raise the Panamanian flag in the Canal Zone. Then Panamanian President Roberto Chiari spoke with President Lyndon W. Johnson and briefly severed diplomatic ties with the US. The deaths are commemorated each year with Panamanian flags flying at half-staff on Martyrs’ Day, a national holiday.

The treaty

The 1964 riots shook the country and fueled Panama’s bid to gain control of the canal. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed two treaties that committed the US to surrender the waterway and the surrounding canal zone.

One treaty stated that the Panama Canal Zone would cease to exist on October 1, 1979, and that the canal would be handed over to Panama on December 31, 1999. A second treaty gave the US the right to intervene militarily to defend the waterway against of any threat to its neutrality.

The invasion of 1989

Trump’s vow to take back the canal and refusal to rule out military action to achieve it has upset Panamanians. Most people remember the 1989 US invasion, which killed more than 500 Panamanians and 23 US soldiers. The operation toppled General Manuel Noriega after the US indicted him on drug-trafficking charges and he annulled a presidential election won by an opposition candidate.

The American invasion was not caused by the canal, which was then being carried to Panama, although Noriega tried to make it an issue. He took refuge for 10 days in the Vatican embassy as US troops played deafening rock music in an attempt to force him to leave. He was surrendered to US forces and flown to Miami, where he was tried and convicted. After years in prison, Noriega returned to Panama, where he died in 2017.

Panama takes action

When the US transferred the canal to Panama in 1999, the waterway’s original locks from 1914 were almost obsolete, being too narrow for many US Navy ships.

Panama has begun an overhaul to expand the canal’s capacity and boost profitability. He invested more than $5 billion to build larger locks that increased revenue and the number of ship passages to up to 36 a day. This caused it to become a vital link for global trade, which also prompted investment in US ports to serve the largest tankers that carry oil and liquefied natural gas from one coast to the other.

The canal currently brings in about $5 billion a year. The government keeps about half and the rest covers operating costs and investments.