Panama Canal

Main article: Panama

2025

BlackRock with partners plan to buy out ports of the Panama Canal

The group of companies, consisting of BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, said it would acquire a 90% stake in Panama Ports Company, which owns the ports of Balboa and Cristobal near the Panama Canal.

Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holding has agreed to sell all shares in its two divisions, which grant the right to operate 43 ports in 23 countries, including two of the four main ports along the Panama Canal. As a result, the BlackRock consortium will gain control of port terminals in Mexico, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan and other countries.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has already called this agreement a "vivid illustration" of the corporation's activities, as well as their ability to provide differentiated investments for customers.

Representatives of the Chinese company deny that the sale was the result of political pressure.

It is necessary to obtain approval of this deal by the Government of Panama, which will not happen until April.

Panama, under pressure from the United States, leaves the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and allows passage through the channel of US warships

In early February 2025, on the eve of a visit to the country by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Panama President Jose Raul Mulino assured that he would not discuss with the Americans the issue of control over the Panama Canal. Even before the visit, the government politician, with the help of trade unions, brought crowds of protesters to the streets, hinting at the seriousness of the intentions.

But in reality, everything turned out differently: after the negotiations, the Panamanian leader said that his government would not renew the memorandum of understanding with China on the Belt and Road initiative.

During the meeting, Rubio expressed to Mulino the position of US President Donald Trump, according to which China's existing position regarding control over the Panama Canal poses a threat and is a violation of the treaty on constant neutrality and operation of the canal.

The Secretary of State said that this is unacceptable for the United States, and if there are no changes in Washington, they will be forced to take action in accordance with this agreement.

In early January, Panamanian management had already begun a review of a Hong Kong-based company operating ports at both ends of the canal.

Panama's proposals to resolve the February 3 channel dispute:

• Free passage of US Navy ships through the Panama Canal, which will save the United States up to $3 billion annually.

• Refusal to extend the memorandum with China as part of the Belt and Road initiative.

• Audit of CK Hutchison Holdings (Hong Kong), which operates ports near the channel.

So far, no one has mentioned preferences for merchant ships, although Trump initially resented precisely the "extortionate tariffs" for them.

2024: US President Trump says US may demand to take back control of Panama Canal

In December 2024 USA Donald Trump , the president said that the United States could demand the return of control of the Panama Canal if the current conditions for its use are not revised. It is a strategic asset of the United States and plays an important role in the country's economy and national security.

The President of Panama has ruled out the return of the Panama Canal to US ownership. According to him, the high tariffs that Trump complained about are not a whim, they are created, including taking into account market conditions, international competition, operating costs, as well as maintenance and modernization needs.

Trump responded by posting a photo of the Panama Canal with an American flag and the caption "Welcome to the United States Canal!"

2023: Lower water levels due to severe drought

Due to a severe drought in 2023, water levels in Gatun Lake, which feeds the Panama Canal locks with fresh water needed to lift ships as they cross from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, fell far below normal, leading to weight restrictions and rising fees for ships to pass through the canal.

2019: Panama Canal's share of global trade - 0.9%

2006: Referendum approves canal expansion plan

At the initiative of Panamanian President Martin Torrijos, a popular referendum was held in 2006, where the people of Panama had to decide whether they wanted to expand the canal. 79% of the country's citizens supported the expansion of the channel.

China is most interested in expanding and improving the channel, which needs not only sales markets, but also in the rapid delivery of raw materials, in particular oil.

2000: China's Hutchison Whampoa wins canal management contest

In early 2000, Panama announced a tender for the management of the canal. The tender was won by the Chinese company Hutchison Whampoa, which actually began to manage the canal, but already under the control of the Panamanian authorities.

1977: Panama Canal Handover Agreement since 2000

On September 7, 1977, in Washington, Panama leader Omar Torrijos and US President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty (The Panama Canal Treaty) to transfer control of the canal to the Panamanian government since 2000. On October 23, 1977, the agreement was ratified by the Parliament of Panama, and on April 18, 1978, by the US Senate.

1920: Official opening of the canal

The official opening of the canal took place only on June 12, 1920.

1917: US acquires nearby islands from Panama, Denmark, Nicaragua and Colombia

To strengthen the defense on the approaches to the canal, the United States acquired nearby islands:

• Pacific islands were obtained from Panama - Margarita, Perke, Naos, Culebra and Flamenco;
• the Denmark dollars islands of St. John, St. Croix and St. Thomas were bought from in 1917 for 25 million;
• Nicaragua in 1928 - Corn (Corn) Islands;
• Colombia has the islands of Roncador and Kitasueno.

1914: The first test vessel passed through the canal

The first ship (ocean steamer SS Ancon) along the canal line passed on August 15, 1914, but a large landslide in October prevented the opening of traffic in the same 1914.

1903: US separates Panama from Colombia for canal rights

On January 22, 1903, Colombian Ambassador Thomas Herran and US Secretary of State John Hay signed a treaty under which Colombia leased a strip of land to the United States for a period of 100 years for the construction of the Panama Canal.

For the sanction of the Colombian government, which owned the territory of Panama, the United States agreed to pay $10 million for the transfer of the concession, and then after 9 years - $250,000 annually, while maintaining Colombia's sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone.

These conditions were formalized in the Hay-Herran treaty, but the Colombian Senate refused to ratify it on August 12, 1903, since the concession agreement with the French company expired in 1904, and under the terms of it, if the canal did not begin to function by that time, and this was undoubtedly, then all the structures erected by the company passed free of charge to Colombia.

Spanish workers - canal builders, early 1900s

The only way out interested parties in France and the United States now saw that the state of Panama would secede from Colombia and, as an independent state, formalize the legally transfer of the US concession. The Frenchman Buno-Varia organized and led the separatist movement and, with the direct intervention of the US Navy, seceded Panama on November 4, 1903; On November 18, on behalf of the "Independent Panama Republic," he signed a treaty with the United States modeled on the Hay-Herran Treaty. The US conflict with Colombia was settled only in 1921.

Under the 1903 Treaty, the United States received in perpetual possession "a zone of land and land under water for the construction, maintenance, operation, establishment of sanitary order and protection of the mentioned canal," which was provided for in Article 2 of the Treaty. Article 3 gave the United States all rights as if they were the sovereign of the territory.

In addition, the United States became the guarantor of the independence of the Republic of Panama and received the right to maintain order in the cities of Panama and Colon if the Republic of Panama, in the opinion of the United States, was unable to independently maintain order. The economic side of the Treaty repeated the Hay-Herran Treaty, which was not ratified by Colombia. On behalf of Panama, the treaty was signed by French citizen Philippe Buno-Varia 2 hours before the official delegation of Panama arrived in Washington.

1902: US forces French to sell canal construction rights

In order to intimidate the French company, which owned the concession for the construction of the Panama Canal, the prospect of building a competing canal and knocking down the price, the commission of the US Congress first spoke in favor of the Nicaraguan direction, and the corresponding Hepburn bill was adopted in Congress on January 9, 1902.

Impressed by this, the French agreed in June 1902 to sell the concession, completed work and significant equipment for $40 million; after that, the Americans canceled the Hepburn bill and decided the issue in favor of the Panama Canal.

On June 28, 1902, the United States Congress passed a law requiring the President of the United States to purchase the property of the canal construction company, shares of the Panama Company railway and a strip of land off Colombia 10 miles wide for the construction, maintenance and management of the canal with jurisdiction in the territory.