The last U.S. base was closed on Dec. 1 and there are just 120 troops left in the area. The state department says these remaining troops will evacuate a few hours after the American flag is lowered for the last time on the afternoon of Dec. 31. To many Americans, the Panama Canal symbolizes a key piece of the nation's economic and millitary success in this century. After all, Panama is a country slightly smaller than South Carolina and it has no military. The state department says the hand-over of the canal is a gesture of American confidence in the Panamanians.
Officials claim the land essentially belongs to Panama and all of Latin America.
Despite sometimes violent protests during most of the century, the U.S. has maintained control over this piece of Panama, which essentially splits the republic in half. Peter Romero, assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, compared it to another country taking over the Mississippi River, and five miles on either side for the next century. We are running a container port business which has nothing to do with the operation of the Panama Canal. The bill claims that the U.S. and Panama signed two contradictory versions of the treaties and therefore only the 1903 treaty of U.S. ownership is still legally binding. The bill has gained support in light of reports that a Hong Kong-based company is plotting to take control of the canal after the U.S. withdrawal.