American Rights in the Panama Canal

Abstract

The return of maritime warfare in the Atlantic and Pacific, and the proclamation by the United States of its neutrality in the existing state of war, raise anew important questions of law concerning the Panama Canal. While there is an abundant literature on the history of the Canal project, on the Panama Revolution, the Tolls controversy, the economic importance of the Canal and the cost of its defense, little has been written on the legal status of the Canal as a completed and operating institution. No complete survey of the treaties, laws, executive orders, regulations, agreements, opinions and decisions, and diplomatic correspondence seems to exist. Only by a laborious consultation of source materials, not all of which are easily accessible, can a comprehensive picture of the legal situation be pieced together. It is hoped that the treatment which follows may help to fill this lacuna.

Anti‐American Resistance in Latin America: An Issue of Sovereignty, Militarization, and Neoliberalism

“…The Hay‐Bunau‐Varilla Treaty of 1903, under its Article III stated that the United States will have “all the rights, power and authority within the zone” and “would possess and exercise if it were the sovereign of the territory […] to the entire exclusion of the exercise by the Republic of Panama of any such sovereign rights, power or authority” (Padelford 1940, 426). The treaty cemented the dominance of the United States in the region under Monroe and concretized its field of interests by acquiring control and possession of the isthmus.…”

“…In combination the 1903 Treaty and the newly created Panama Constitution of 1904 had reduced Panama’s sovereignty over the isthmus and adjacent territories as a ‘titular’ one, meaning that they were recognized as signing parties of the treaties but with no power over its conventions (Langley 1989; Minger 1961; Padelford 1941). By 1904 the United States had established its ‘legal’ right of jurisdiction that would allow for the management and defense of the Canal and the intervention in Panama’s internal affairs to secure peace and order (Padelford 1940). This claim of jurisdiction by the United States would eventually become a germ of anti‐American sentiment.…”

The United States’ Impact on Panama and the Panama Canal: An Intervention Case Study

“…In 1904, the U.S. government began construction of the Canal, picking up on the failed French Canal project of the 1880's. Upon completion of the Canal, the U.S. created the "Panama Canal Zone", a piece of unincorporated territory within Panama that remained under American sovereignty (Padelford et al, 2023). Effectively the U.S. had established a colony within Panama.…”