No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsLatin AmericaPanama Canal Celebrates 25 Years Under Panamanian Control

Panama Canal Celebrates 25 Years Under Panamanian Control

The Panama Canal celebrated its 25th anniversary under Panamanian hands this Tuesday in a solemn ceremony in which the late former US President Jimmy Carter was remembered and Donald Trump’s threats to take back the interoceanic waterway were ignored. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and hundreds of guests attended the ceremony in the garden of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) headquarters, near the canal, including former President Mireya Moscoso, who symbolically received the canal from Carter on December 31, 1999.

In a speech, Mulino said he felt joy for the 25 years of Panamanian sovereignty over the Canal but added that “a sadness […] invades us for the death of Jimmy Carter,” who passed away on Sunday at the age of 100. A minute of silence was observed at the ceremony in memory of Carter.

Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos signed the canal handover treaties in Washington in 1977. “With the signing of the Torrijos-Carter treaties, we Panamanians committed ourselves as a nation to the safe operation of the canal, open to peaceful transit for ships of all nations, in times of peace or war, and without any discrimination,” said the head of the ACP, Ricaurte Vásquez.

“For 25 years, Panamanians and their canal have delivered!” he added in his speech. The 80-kilometer canal, built by the United States, was inaugurated in 1914. To protect it, Washington established an enclave where the American flag flew and had its own military bases, police and justice system.

Neither Mulino nor the other speakers mentioned Trump’s threats in their speeches. The US President-elect said his country should “take back control” of the canal due to the “ridiculous fees” that Panama charges to pass through it.

Tuesday’s ceremony also honored some twenty Panamanians killed in 1964 after students tried to raise a national flag in the former Canal Zone, the US enclave created to protect the waterway that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic.

“The Panama Canal is much more than a strategic infrastructure,” it is the engine of the national economy, stressed the Canal Minister, José Ramón Icaza, who also affirmed that the waterway is “a wonder of the world”. The interoceanic route moves 5% of world maritime trade, contributes 6% of Panama’s GDP and 20% of its tax revenue

Trending Now

Cosby Show Star Malcolm-Jamal Warner Dies in Costa Rica Drowning Accident

Malcolm-Jamal Warner passed away at 54 from an accidental drowning. He gained fame as Theo Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," playing the son in...

Can Costa Rica’s Blue Zone Preserve Its Longevity Legacy?

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is recognized worldwide as one of the five blue zones, where people live beyond the age of 90...

Costa Rica Tops Latin America in Attracting Foreign Millionaires

Costa Rica is a country that attracts millionaires. Projections indicate that by the end of 2025, a total of 350 foreign millionaires will have...

Why Birders Are Flocking to Costa Rica’s Barra del Colorado

Costa Rica is a bird-watching paradise, offering an incredible diversity with close to 900 recorded species, including resident and migratory species. One reason for...

Panama Farmer Receives Land Title After 60-Year Wait at Age 109

A 109-year-old Panamanian farmer has received the land title for the property where he lives and works—six decades after first requesting it from the...

Venezuela Accuses El Salvador of Torturing Deported Migrants From U.S.

Sexual abuse, daily beatings, rotten food: The government of Nicolás Maduro on Monday denounced “torture” against Venezuelan migrants sent by the United States to...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica