A Brief History of the Panama Canal

A Brief History of the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal was opened in 1914. It was an enormous undertaking. The canal took ten years to complete (from the time Teddy Roosevelt got our country’s work on the canal started), and $400 million (about $15 billion in today’s money). For ships, the Panama Canal saved a trip around South America at Cape Horn; albeit at the cost of the toll charged by the canal. In its first year of operation, less than a thousand ships passed through the cana…

‘Critically Important’: Iran Allegedly Used China As Golden Ticket To Quietly Operate In Panama Canal

China's growing foothold over the Panama Canal isn't just fueling its own commercial interests, it also appears to be helping America's adversaries engage side-step sanctions, court documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

America’s Panama Canal Play Hampers China’s Regional Ambitions

Panama Canal: A Short History of Its Operation and Chinese Interest in It

PANAMA CITY, Panama—A Chinese cultural center on the outskirts of Panama City was busy with people coming and going on a Wednesday afternoon in March, a reminder of China’s long history in the region.   The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Panama in 1854 to help build the railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Groups of Chinese continued to migrate to Panama in the 1800s and to help with large constructions projects, including t…

The gestures made by the Panamanian government to overcome the U.S. discomfort over the presence that China had gained over the past few years in the Panama Canal environment seem to be serving little. Despite the decisions taken by President José Raúl Mulino to remove China from the banks of the canal, Donald Trump maintains his demand that the U.S. take control of this interoceanic route. This leads us to believe that the objective of the pres…

A key point of the hearing was the debate on the alleged influence of China in Panama. One senator recalled the transfer of the Canal to Panamanian hands in 1999, calling it a "strategic loss" for the US.