Some U.S. lawmakers and officials are touting a nearly half-century-old treaty between the United States and Panama to justify the Trump administration's threat to reclaim the Panama Canal - provided it can
Some U.S. lawmakers and officials are touting a nearly half-century-old treaty between the United States and Panama to justify the Trump administration's threat to reclaim the Panama Canal - provided it can show the strategic waterway's operation is under threat.
Others, however, say hurdles would loom for any bid to use the 1977 Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty, which took effect in 1999 and guarantees that the canal would remain neutral and open to all ships from all countries, as a pretext for the U.S. to seize it.
The 82-km (51-mile) waterway's construction was completed by the U.S. in 1914, and since its return to the Central American nation in 1999, it has been controlled by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government.
President Donald Trump vowed to take back the world's second largest interoceanic waterway during his Jan. 20 inauguration speech, falsely claiming that China is operating it. He has complained about the canal's tolls, as well as the presence of Chinese and Hong Kong-based firms in Panama.
In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Louis Sola said the agency that oversees U.S. ocean transportation and its merchant marine would "consider
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