U.S. Control Of The Panama Canal Stoked Anti-American Riots

The United States controlled the Panama Canal from 1914 to 1999—a total of 85 years—and U.S. mismanagement and assertions of sovereignty over the 50-mile-long waterway fueled anti-American riots in 1964, ultimately forcing the U.S. to cede control, Stephanie Bai wrote for The Atlantic Daily.

There is no national security justification for the U.S. to risk its prestige and military power to reclaim the Panama Canal. I Photo: Panama Canal Authority

“Beginning with Lyndon B. Johnson, American presidents of both parties understood the strategic necessity of handing the canal back,” The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer wrote last week.

The 1964 anti-American riots in Panama made it clear that “the anger over America’s presence would never subside.”

The 1977 U.S.-Panama treaties, signed by President Jimmy Carter, relinquished control of the canal to Panama and established the passageway’s neutrality.

“This move sowed discord in the Republican Party, the effects of which are most clearly seen in President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to retake the canal," Foer noted.

“One of the most self-defeating aspects of Trump’s strategy in the hemisphere is that he is deliberately aggravating countries that could otherwise remain neutral or even align with the U.S. While Panama may not currently seek an alliance with China, Trump’s threats of military action could push the country toward closer ties with Beijing,” he warned.

“Until Trump brought it up, the Panama Canal was hardly considered among the top 500 strategic threats to the U.S. As far as I can tell, the only real changes have been toll increases and growing Chinese interest in the canal.

There is no national security justification for the U.S. to risk its prestige and military power to reclaim it.

The fact that Trump is invoking Manifest Destiny—a term rooted in American expansionism of the 1840s and 1850s—demonstrates that this is not a break from history but a return to America’s imperialist past.

This marks a major shift in how the U.S. perceives its global role.

“For Trump, a real estate mogul, acquiring land is a measure of greatness. He looks at Vladimir Putin’s expansionist approach in Ukraine and seems to believe that powerful leaders and nations should do the same. Now, he appears to be testing that possibility himself,” Foer concluded.