Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 16 of 24 · 20 min
The Turnover: The Day Panama Took Back Its Canal and Proved the World Wrong
Washington doubted Panama could run the canal after the December 31, 1999 handover. The episode shows Panama rebuilding after the invasion, abolishing its army in 1994, creating the Panama Canal Authority in 1997 and staffing the canal overwhelmingly with Panamanians. Two ceremonies marked the transfer, and the canal ran smoothly afterward.
Who's who
- Guillermo Endara+1 more episodePost-invasion president who rebuilt the economy, 1990-94
- Ernesto Pérez BalladaresPresident under whom the army was abolished and the ACP created
- Mireya MoscosoPresident at the handover; Panama's first woman president
- Jimmy Carter+12 more episodesRepresented the United States at the ceremony
- Alberto Alemán Zubieta+1 more episodeFirst administrator of the Panama Canal Authority
- Bill Clinton+5 more episodesU.S. President who stayed away from the handover
Where it happens
- Miraflores, PanamaSite of the December 14, 1999 ceremonial handover
- Canal Zone, Panama+5 more episodesEnded with the legal transfer
- Panama+5 more episodesCountry that abolished its military in 1994
Timeline
- 1990-1994Endara rebuilds the post-invasion economy
- 1994Constitutional amendment abolishes the military
- 1997Panama Canal Authority created
- December 14, 1999Ceremonial handover with Carter and Moscoso
- December 31, 1999Legal transfer at noon; Canal Zone ends
Still debated
Clinton's absence from the handover was widely noted as a slight, and reports vary on which other U.S. officials attended. Panamanian democracy in the 1990s still had corruption and growing pains. The over-90-percent Panamanian workforce was the completion of a long transition.
← PreviousOperation Just Cause: The 1989 Invasion of Panama and Its Contested TollNext →The Mega-Expansion: How Panama Bet $5 Billion on Its Canal — and Won
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