Carter, Torrijos at
Panama Canal
Panamanian President
Martin Torrijos and
former US President
James Carter lead Monday
the starting ceremony
for the modernization of
the inter-oceanic canal
zone.
Carter negotiated and
signed on September 7,
1977 with Omar Torrijos,
father of the current
president, a group of
accords to recover
national sovereignty on
the then denominated
Panama Canal Zone and
seaway.
This amazing work began
in 1903 and opened in
1914, one of the most
important trade routes
of the planet, but it
has also been a central
theme of a conflicts
between Panama and the
United States.
In virtue of the
Torrijos-Carter
agreements, the Panama
Canal Zone passed to
control of the
Panamanians on the last
day of 1999.
The expansion of ships
made too small the
ingenious complexes of
locks that allow two-way
passage between the
Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans.
The three new complexes
of locks, which will
make possible the
movement of long and
wider ships, will be
built by Panama at $5.2
billion.
El Salvador's President
Elias Antonio Saca,
Colombia's Alvaro Uribe
and Nicaragua's Daniel
Ortega are due to attend
the meeting.
According to official
estimates, it is
expected that some
40,000 people attend the
ground breaking, as a
homage to several
generations of
Panamanians who
contributed to rescuing
national sovereignty. |
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