76-18-A1
- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1977
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Panama[edit]
Transcript[edit]It would be improper for me to comment on the terms of the agreement reached by the U.S. and Panamanian negotiators until we've all been able to see the treaty and study the terms. It is appropriate however to counter some of the Washington propaganda designed to soften us up by creating a guilt complex over the canal as if it symbolized American imperialism and exploitation of a weaker neighbor. Nothing could .be farther from the truth. The American people have every right to be proud -- not only of the great accomplishment in building the Canal, but -- of our complete lack of selfishness in all the years of its operation. This is not the picture created by our negotiators, Ambassadors Bunker and Ellsworth, on "Meet the Press". I'm sure they are honorable men who sincerely believe our national interest would be served by giving up the Canal. But, they left the T.V. audience with the false impression that we have no ownership rights in the Canal and that we have inadequately compensated Panama for our presence there. Back at the turn of the century, when we dealt with the new government of Panama which had broken away from Colombia, we took over the French contract for building a canal. They had failed completely, largely because of Yellow Fever which killed the canal workers like flies. The United States paid Panama and Colombia because the original contract was with that country. Then (and this Mr. Linowitz apparently didn't know when he spoke on T.V.) we went into what is now the Canal Zone and bought each piece of privately-held land from the individual owners just as any individual would if he were buying a farm or house and lot. We not only have treaty rights -- we are the owners of the real estate. Then we set out to conquer the dread Yellow Fever. Volunteers allowed themselves to be stung by disease carrying mosquitoes and some died, but we eliminated the killer fever not only for canal workers but for all of Panama. I recently looked at a book of photographs of the construction work -- there were no bulldozers then, nor heavy earth-moving machinery and the obstacles were monumental. No other nation in the world could have built the Canal. It is truly one of the great wonders of the world. There have been more than 50 governments of Panama in its 60-odd years of existence. The present dictator took power by a military overthrow of the elected government. During these turbulent years, we have never made a profit. In fact, the original cost of the Canal has never been recovered. It still stands as an unpaid debt owed the U.S. Treasury. We pour about $200 million a year into the economy of Panama, giving it a higher standard of living than most of its Latin American neighbors. We paved the streets of Panama City, built a water system to provide pure fresh water and have negotiated treaty changes over the years to benefit the Panamanians. But, until now we have never negotiated our rights of ownership and sovereignty. So, we make no profit, we've never recovered the initial investment, we do not exploit the people of Panama -- they are better off because of us. There is an unreality about the whole thing. Wouldn't the logical and honorable course be for Panama to offer t o buy the Canal. How do we reconcile yielding to a demand that we hand it over free of charge plus giving them $70 million a year for taking it off our hands? |
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