Quote:
Originally Posted by RN7
The treaty to transfer the canal to Panamanian control came into effect in September 1979. And no the Panama Canal was not jointly held by the US and Panama but under US occupation. Remember the US invasion of Panama in 1990 to oust General Noriega. The US took control over the whole of Panama and basically dismantled the Panamanian military. After the invasion only a Para-military police force remained in Panama, and it was smaller and much lighter armed than the US garrison based in Panama. But of course everyone still said that it was under joint US-Panamanian control.
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The canal was run by the Panama Canal Commission, which, per Article III of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, consisted of 4 Panamanians nominated by the Panamanian government and approved by the American government and 5 Americans, with an American as Administrator until 1990, when a Panamanian took over (until the invasion and occupation that coincidentally happened the year the Administrator role was to be transferred). For the duration of the treaty (i.e. until 12/31/99), the United States bore primary responsibility for canal defense per Article IV of the treaty. Agencies and instrumentalities operating for the US to support the Canal were immune to Panamanian law. The only real limits were that military forces were not to exceed what had been in the Canal Zone unless necessary, and 20% of the US workers would be replaced within 5 years of the ratification of the Treaty. If it wasn't joint, then it was heavily slanted in favor of the United States.