Panama Canal
- Thread starter Tenacious E
- Start date
I did know it was mostly lakes, per reporting in the 1970s. What I didn't know was that those were not natural lakes, but man-made, formed by the lock system created when the Canal was built. There's also a third, higher elevation lake that was built to provide more water to the lower lakes should those run low. Had those been natural lakes there would have been greater reason to return the canal to Panama at the time,imo. And that was the general tone of what I read in the media, in support of the change in ownership of the CZ.
Trump should try to get Chinese influence out of our ports. But that pales in importance when compared to the CZ, and Central America in general.
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Lead from the front, hero.
The canals are in the middle of a $5+ billion dollar upgrade, paid for by Panama, investors and the IMF. Why should Panama hand over something to the US that they are paying to improve?
$5 billion?,.. Big deal,.. What are they doing?,.. giving it a coat of paint?
Everyone is cowing to Trump now. Pretty amazing and unprecedented.
Yep, life's not fair.
Isn't that even all the more reason to own it? The United States is the biggest funder of the IMF anyway.
That's awesome. Where can I get one?That said. I did just order a shirt:
With Trumps name on it, of course. For commemorative purposes. You can buy one for 19.99.
If trump tells the military to take back the canal, will they listen? If there was a real danger to the canal I'm sure they would but to start a conflict for no apparent reason should set off alarms at the Pentagon. I suppose trump could pull a Putin and have our special ops blow something up down there to get us involved.
I'm guessing they'd listen, and I'm guessing there wouldn't be much of a fight over it.
It happened because people were sick and tired of the conditions at the time. Capitalists saw what had happened in Russia in 1917 and were afraid. They (and FDR) made concessions with communists to reform and passed things like Social Security, Minimum Wage, Unemployment Insurance and banned oppressive child labor. Both sides compromised to prevent a revolution.
There is a constant effort to try to erode those safety nets by those in power.
MAGA is celebrating a "win" by Donald Trump and Marco Rubio about the Navy not having to pay tolls when passing through the Panama Canal.
Funny thing though...
They didn't have to pay the tolls prior to Donald Trump's meltdown.
The policy is part of the Panama Canal Treaty signed in 1977, which came into effect in 1999 when Panama took full control of the canal.
Yet another "win" for something that was in place before Donald Trump even got into office.
This is his playbook. Rinse. Recycle. Repeat.
Considering that Trump/Musk want to decrease the budget/federal employees.....not sure how taking control of Canal would do that.
This is from 2021....for context.
Q2: What is China’s influence in the Panama Canal?
A2: Chinese companies have been heavily involved in infrastructure-related contracts in and around the Canal in Panama’s logistics, electricity, and construction sectors. These projects fit naturally with China’s BRI vision, onto which Panama was the first Latin American country to sign in 2018. This, along with Panama’s recognition of China, boosted China’s already existent footprint in the Canal, and Chinese companies have since positioned themselves at either end of the Panama Canal through port concession agreements. In 2016, in a $900 million deal, the China-based Landbridge Group acquired control of Margarita Island, Panama’s largest port on the Atlantic side and in the Colón Free Trade Zone, the largest free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere. The deal established the Panama-Colón Container Port (PCCP) as a deep-water port for megaships, and the construction and expansion was carried out by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), a company also active in China’s island-building initiatives in the South China Sea, and the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC). The location of the port on the Canal has since allowed China to capitalize on Canal expansion. Additionally, in March 2021 the Panamanian government began the process of renewing the lease of Hutchison Ports PPC, a subsidiary of Hong Kong–based CK Hutchison Holdings, which serves as operator for the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, two major hubs of the Canal’s Pacific and Atlantic outlets, respectively.
Furthermore, in 2018, a Chinese consortium led by CHEC and CCCC announced it was awarded a $1.4 billion contract for the Canal’s fourth bridge, which then-president Varela called “the fifth most important project in the history of the country.” More recently, China Construction Americas finished the Amador Convention Center along the Pacific side of the Canal, a project contracted under the Varela government and funded by Chinese loans. China has also invested in energy-related facilities along the Canal. For example, the Chinese group Shanghai Gorgeous invested $900 million to build a natural gas–fired electricity generation facility. As an economic foothold into Latin America, the Panama Canal is no doubt an important gateway for China’s bid for broader presence and a logistical hub for Chinese goods entering the region.
Aside from infrastructure projects, water management efforts are also a key source of entry for Chinese players. A plan announced in September 2020 would establish a water management system to combat against drought, which threatens the operation of the Canal, but also would impact local access to water for the next 50 years. This presents another opportunity for Chinese investors to increase their presence in Panama beyond the Canal.
In the first and second quarters of 2020, China strayed from traditional infrastructure and business investments to focus on supporting Panama’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Between February and June 2020 alone, Panama received almost $2 million of aid in the form of healthcare-related supplies from China. This interest in Panama’s healthcare resources likely stemmed from the way that the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 brought multiple infrastructure projects, including the Canal’s fourth bridge, to a halt. Some work restarted in late 2020, but progress generally remains delayed.
Q4: What are the implications for the United States?
A4: China’s BRI expansion into port-related facilities has stirred alarm for the United States over ambitions seen as endangering the neutrality of the Canal. Of those goods transiting the Canal, over 60 percent originate in or end up in U.S. markets, intrinsically tying free and fair Canal access to U.S. national security and economic interests in the country. Accordingly, the Canal is a major commercial asset, acting as gateway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and a provider of lower shipping costs for U.S. and global trade.
With the expansion of Chinese influence in the waterway, the Canal will likely continue to be a point of tension in U.S.-China relations. China does not operate the Canal, it only manages the two ports on either end, meaning it does not interact or influence all goods transiting the Canal. However, the increase of Chinese companies’ control over transshipment cargo operations bound for the United States and other countries is a point of contention.
China’s expanded reach in the Panama Canal has slowed recently, mostly due to U.S. pushback and the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, the Panama Ministry of Public Works' plans for the announced fourth bridge over the Canal was scaled back in 2020. In 2018, U.S. and domestic pressure ended China’s plans to construct a large embassy at the mouth of the Canal. In fact, numerous initiated projects have been canceled, postponed, or scaled back during the current administration of President Laurentino Cortizo. This scaling back of Chinese projects by the Cortizo administration indicates that there not only exists a desire to maintain open relations with the United States, as embodied by Panamanians’ access to “Global Entry international trusted traveler” status for entering the United States, but also an opportunity for the United States to take the lead in the geopolitical competition surrounding the Panama Canal.
Key Decision Point Coming for the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal sits at the nexus of international political and economic concerns.
www.csis.org
State Department Claims US Govt Vessels Now Transit Panama Canal For Free, Panama’s Govt Calls Bullshit
Axios reports:Read the full article. Eternally credulous cultists are gleefully sharing the State Department’s tweet as evidence of Trump’s brilliance.
I'm convinced Trump is gonna eat a bullet and this time it won't nip his ear.
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