US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for the US to regain control of the Panama Canal which is used by thousands of cargo ships each year. The US-built canal was handed over to Panama on December 31, 1999 and has been operated by it since then.
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00:00These locks are part of the original US-controlled Panama Canal from 1914,
00:05helping ships cross Panama, 82 kilometers across, from one ocean to another.
00:10A passage now used by thousands of cargo ships each year,
00:14and a vital part of international commerce.
00:22Under Panamanian control, the decision was made to expand the canal
00:27due to rising worldwide demand for shipping.
00:31The ships were becoming much larger,
00:33and we needed a way to be able to let them through the canal.
00:37In 2016, the construction of the canal expansion was completed.
00:46This is the canal's administration building,
00:48for more than 80 years off-limits to Panamanians unless they had a special permit.
00:54Sadness, a lot of humiliation.
00:57I'm right now in the administration building.
01:00That was just a dream.
01:01We could not even enter the canal area.
01:04It was forbidden for all Panamanians to be in the canal area.
01:09The canal operates under a neutrality treaty, which the US pledged to defend by force.
01:14But now Donald Trump calls the canal a vital asset of the US.
01:19The canal belongs to Panama.
01:21It is administered by Panama and stipulated in the constitution,
01:25as well as in the treaties.
01:31Panama charges passage fees for ships depending on their dimensions
01:35and the uses of the vessel, not their nationality.
01:39But Trump says those fees are too high.
01:44Panama has the second highest tonnage and ships under registry,
01:48but vessels are treated the same,
01:51whether they are registered as American or Russian or Chinese.
01:59The country received significant income from operating the canal,
02:03almost two and a half billion dollars last year.
02:10We have proven to the world not only that we can manage the canal well,
02:15but that without the United States or any other nation,
02:21we also built an expansion that today earns 55% of the canal's income.
02:26In other words, more than the old canal built by the Americans.
02:31We paid for it ourselves, from the funds that came out of the canal
02:35and our good administration of it.
02:39For now, the canal is still a state enterprise
02:42that by Panamanian law can only be operated by Panamanians themselves.