Editing Panama Canal (section)

===US control and handover to Panama, 1914-1999===
{{See also|#Third set of locks project (expansion)}}
[[File:Missouri panama canal.jpg|thumb|upright|{{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}}, an {{sclass|Iowa|battleship|2}}, passes through the canal on 13 October 1945. The {{cvt|108|ft|2|in|m}} beams of the ''Iowas'' and preceding {{sclass|South Dakota|battleship (1939)|4}} were the largest ever to transit the Canal.]]

By the 1930s, water supply became an issue for the canal, prompting construction of the [[Madden Dam]] across the Chagres River above Gatun Lake. Completed in 1935, the dam created Madden Lake (later [[Lake Alajuela]]), which provides additional water storage for the canal.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA25 |title=Panama Dam to Aid Canal Traffic |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=January 1930 |page=25 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728094135/https://books.google.com/books?id=2ikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA25 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building. The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation was carried out on the new approach channels, but the project was canceled after World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.czbrats.com/Articles/3rdlocks/3rdlocks.htm |title=Enlarging the Panama Canal |work=czbrats.com |access-date=7 January 2006 |archive-date=5 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405193423/http://czbrats.com/Articles/3rdlocks/3rdlocks.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.czimages.com/CZMemories/thirdlocks/tcindex.htm |title=Presentation on the Third Locks Project – Panama Canal Zone |work=czimages.com |access-date=7 January 2006 |archive-date=14 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214222237/http://www.czimages.com/CZMemories/thirdlocks/tcindex.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

After World War II, US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious; relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing-in of the zone and an increased military presence there.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Martyrs of 1964 |url=http://www.czbrats.com/Jackson/martyrs/martyrs.htm |access-date=1 May 2023 |website=www.czbrats.com |archive-date=30 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430124237/http://www.czbrats.com/Jackson/martyrs/martyrs.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Demands for the United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956, when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the [[Suez Canal]], previously nationalized by the [[Nasser]] regime in Egypt. Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on [[Martyrs' Day (Panama)|Martyr's Day]], 9 January 1964, when about 20 Panamanians and 3–5 US soldiers were killed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MILESTONES: 1953–1960 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/suez |access-date=13 December 2023 |archive-date=25 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425183636/https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/suez |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{listen
|filename=Carter Panama Canal speech.ogg
|title=Statement on the Panama Canal Treaty Signing
|description=President Jimmy Carter's speech upon signing the Panama Canal treaty, 7 September 1977}}

A decade later, in 1974, negotiations toward a settlement began and resulted in the [[Torrijos–Carter Treaties]]. On 7 September 1977, the treaty was signed by President of the United States [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Omar Torrijos]], ''de facto'' leader of Panama. This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal. The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on 31 December 1999, and the [[Panama Canal Authority]] (ACP) assumed command of the waterway. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-peddicord/panama-canal-expansion_b_10773740.html |title=Here's Why The Panama Canal Expansion Has Everyone Excited |date=11 July 2016 |website=TheHuffingtonPost.com |quote=The Canal previously accounted for about 15 percent of the country's GDP |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928000817/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-peddicord/panama-canal-expansion_b_10773740.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.economist.com/node/15014282 |title=A plan to unlock prosperity |date=3 December 2009 |magazine=The Economist |access-date=17 April 2017 |archive-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708071113/http://www.economist.com/node/15014282 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the [[container terminal|container shipping ports]] located at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific outlets. The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and was won by the firm [[Hutchison Whampoa]], a Hong Kong–based shipping interest owned by [[Li Ka-shing]].<ref>{{Cite news |first=Peter |last=Wonacott |date=15 October 1999 |title=Hutchison Unit's Panama Canal Contract Is Targeted by a U.S. Senate Committee |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB93992854168999852 |access-date=12 March 2022 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=12 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312081015/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB93992854168999852 |url-status=live }}</ref>