U.S. prepares to hand over Panama Canal after 85 years
Clinton skips ceremony; Carter leads U.S. delegation
PANAMA CITY (CNN) -- After 85 years and amid a last-minute flurry of objections from some lawmakers, the United States on Tuesday will ceremonially hand over the Panama Canal to Panama.
The United States will be represented by a delegation of Cabinet officials and former President Jimmy Carter, who signed the 1977 agreement turning the waterway over to Panama. Though the ceremony takes place Tuesday, the canal -- a pulse point of world trade and one of the century's greatest feats of engineering -- won't officially become Panamanian property until December 31.
Carter is scheduled to join Panama's President Mireya Moscoso, King Juan Carlos of Spain and other world leaders in the ceremony. But notably absent from the event will be U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The canal was a symbol of the American emergence as a world power at the turn of the century. The United States backed the revolt that separated Panama from Colombia in 1903; built the canal, which was completed in 1914; and assumed control of the strip of land surrounding it from the Caribbean to the Pacific.
The United States has cast a long shadow over Panamanian life since the country's birth, occasionally intervening in its internal affairs -- as in 1989, when U.S. troops deposed Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.
American control of the economic -- and literal -- heart of Panama was a source nearly constant and sometimes violent resentment by Panamanians.
But many of the country's most prominent officials -- Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, particularly -- will skip the event.
Besides Carter, the U.S. delegation includes two Cabinet members, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and Commerce Secretary William Daley. Clinton declined because of a scheduling conflict, while Albright will miss the event to prepare for Israeli-Syrian peace talks this week in Washington.
Clinton's absence means "the United States lost an opportunity to look good," Panama's foreign minister, Jose Miguel Aleman, said Monday.
"Panamanians will greet Carter warmly. He is a great friend," Aleman said Monday. "We are not disappointed because Clinton and Albright are not coming. We areplanning a big celebration. It is their loss if they do not come."
But he added, "The feeling I have gotten from the other members of the other countries is that they are disappointed and perplexed."
Historian David McCullough compared the absence of high- level, serving U.S. officials at the event to "dropping the key in the box and slipping away in the night."
"It's a mistake and a great shame," McCullough said.
An engineering marvel, an economic engine
The 1977 treaties cede the 50-mile long canal and the surrounding Canal Zone to Panama. Leaving means closing U.S. military bases, which will cost Panamanians 18,000 jobs.
When opened, the passage cut the sailing time from New York to San Francisco in half. About 14,000 ships pass through the canal every year, steered by Panamanian or U.S. pilots. Shipping companies pay $540 million in tolls annually -- and that concerns some observers, who fear Panamanian leaders may not be able to resist the temptation to turn the waterway into a cash cow and a source of patronage.
"The shipping community wants to have some comfort that the transfer will
be a seamless one and that Panamanian authorities have seized their responsibility to run the canal in a professional way," said William O'Neill, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization.
Moscoso's government has promised to keep partisan politics out of canal business. The canal will be run by the Canal Authority, created by agreement among all Panamanian parties.
Since the 20-year process began, the number of Panamanians employed by the canal has grown to nearly all the 8,000 employees needed to run the waterway. "We have shown throughout the years that Panamanians can operate the canal efficiently," Aleman said.
U.S. critics warn of Chinese influence
U.S. military planners long considered the canal a strategic point. That has fueled last-ditch opposition to the handover among American conservatives, who never liked the idea in the first place. Now, some of them are warning that the waterway will fall under communist Chinese control after U.S. involvement ends.
Critics like Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, say Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa's port concession at both ends of the channel means China can gain control over the canal.
"If we do nothing, Mr. Chairman, within a decade, the communist Chinese
regime ... will dominate the tiny country of Panama, and will control the
Panama Canal," Rohrabacher said. "We cannot afford that to happen. This
is not in the interest of the United States, and it would be a severe compromise of our national security."
Panamanian officials and canal managers say that's untrue.
But Hutchison Whampoa is a publicly traded company that runs 17 port facilities, including Britain's three largest. Its top manager in Panama is British; his deputy is American, and none of the company's 500 employees in Panama is Chinese.
"They have no control over the Panama Canal," said Jorge Quijano, director
of maritime operations for the Panama Canal Commission. "They need our
pilots to get through our channels to get to their ports."
Correspondent Martin Savidge and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Clinton's Chinagate and other Treason
CLINTON OPENS U.S. TO RUSSIA AND CHINA: On May 13, 1997, Defense Secretary Cohen signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia. Under the agreement, U.S. and Russian forces would work together on over 100 exercises in 1997 alone…..
ALLOWING RUSSIANS TO PHOTOGRAPH U.S. MILITARY BASES: Under the Open Skies Treaty, Russian military planes began flying over and photographing U.S. military bases last year. Chinese military aircraft will be allowed to fly over U.S. military bases beginning in 1999. Information Russia and China obtain from these flyovers would be invaluable if they ever attack the US.
GIVES CONTROL OF THE PANAMA CANAL TO CHINA: … President Clinton has allowed a company controlled by Chinese communists—Hutchinson-Whampoa Ltd.—to take control of the Canal cities at both ends of the Canal. Further, under Panamanian Law #5, Hutchinson-Whampoa will determine which ships are allowed to enter the Canal and many of the Canal's operations. This is utterly absurd and frightening…. U.S. SELLS STRATEGIC WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY TO CHINA: On March 23, 1998, The Washington Times revealed a secret Clinton Administration proposal to sell advanced missile technology to China. Under Clinton, 47 supercomputers have been sold to China, most for use by the Red Army—the butchers of Tibet and Tiananmen Square. These U.S. computers can be used to target nuclear missiles at America and to build design new and more powerful nuclear weapons…." ("China and Russia Prepare for War - Part 2," Christopher Ruddy, March 10, 1999)
National security at great risk
Not content with collaborating with the enemies of the United States, Clinton (once quoted as saying, "I loathe the military and all it stands for") has scraped his very own military to such a degree that it will take years to recover:
China and Colombia announce 'alternative Panama Canal'
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Originally Posted by Ryan Ruck
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