The Final Seeds of US Resistance: The Canal Turnover, 1993–2000

Throughout the twentieth century, U.S. control over the Panama Canal facilitated American power projection, a narrative that has been aptly documented by scholars. Less attention, however, has been given to the 23-year period following the promulgation of the Panama Canal Treaties, signed on September 7, 1977 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian head of state and dictator, Omar Torrijos. The treaties relinquished U.S. control of the canal by 2000. The canal turnover occurred during a politically dynamic period, at Cold War’s end, when resentment and conflict often undermined the process of the canal turnover. This was especially the case during the administration of U.S. president Bill Clinton (1993–2001), the chronological focus of this presentation. The puzzle is that in the post-2000 period, the Panamanian political regime emerged as relatively solid, becoming a democracy after years of military dictatorship. Many aspects of Panama’s management of the canal have also been successful. However, during the 1990s seeds of resistance remained against the turnover among U.S. politicians, Zonians (Americans living in the canal zone), and even Panamanians who dragged their feet in a process resembling neocolonialism. Different U.S. government agencies also had a stake in managing the transition, with some actors exhibiting attitudes that undermined the tenets of the treaties. My paper uses Panamanian and U.S. voices to recreate the complicated final years of the canal turnover.