Carter Honors Those Who Worked On, Defended Canal
In a prelude to the official transfer of control over the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama at noon on Dec. 31, former President Jimmy Carter honored 5,000 Americans who gave their lives building and defending the Panama Canal. It was Carter who set the withdrawal in motion in 1977 when he signed treaties relinquishing U.S. control of the famous waterway. But as the U.S. role in Panama slips into history, many in Panama lamented the absence of President Bill Clinton at this pivotal moment in history. Carter's arrival on Dec. 13, as head of the U.S. delegation, was greeted with none of the fanfare reserved for heads of state like Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and Colombian President Andres Pastrana.
Carter To Panama: 'It's Yours'
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter symbolically placed the Panama Canal into Panamanian hands last Tuesday with the simple words, "it's yours," granting the tiny Central American nation sovereignty over all its territory for the first time since its birth in 1903. "Today we are gathered in the spirit of mutual respect, acknowledging without question the full sovereignty of Panama," Carter told hundreds of Panamanian and foreign dignitaries gathered under a light rain at the Miraflores Locks at the Canal's Pacific entrance. In what Carter and Panama President Mireya Moscoso called a pivotal moment in the history of the hemisphere, the two leaders signed a symbolic accord marking the Canal's passage to Panama. Under the 1977 Panama Canal Treaties brokered by Carter, the U.S.
