Short Term Consequences
Successes:
Security
The ratification of the Carter-Torrijos treaty avoided further unrest in Panama.
Source: "Panama Canal Treaties", Global Atlanta
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"If the second treaty had been defeated, as Torrijos told his fellow citizens that night, he would have ordered the National Guard to attack the canal out of frustration."
(Source: Panama Odyssey, William Jorden) "If the treaties had not been negotiated, signed, approved and implemented, the immediate crisis in Panama would have been violent and destructive, and the Canal would have been at best disrupted and at worst inoperable for months and perhaps years." (Source: The 1977 Panama Canal Treaties: the non-issue issue by William L. Furlong) |
"The American people are fortunate that the Panama Canal Treaties were negotiated and approved...I believe most Americans have no idea how close we came to disaster"
(Source: Former Panama Ambassador Jorden)
International Reactions
"Under most circumstances, it is difficult for a superpower to design a long-range foreign policy that diminishes its hegemony, even though that reduction is in its national interest"
(Source:The 1977 Panama Canal Treaties: the non-issue issue by: William L. Furlong)
"... proves that negotiations are an appropriate and effective means of settling disputes between States... "
- President, Guatemala |
"...I am convinced that this basic element of U.S. policy is going to change for the better relations between North America and Latin America" - President, Venezuela
"... is an important step towards final solution of one of the problems affecting Latin America, which shows that the goodwill of nations can always overcome the unjust situation still existing in this continent." - Bolivian Government.
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"The ratification of the Treaty demonstrated the goodwill of the American people for their neighbors in Latin America."
(Source: The Presidential Timeline)
Failures:
Political
Many Senators who supported the Carter-Torrijos treaty lost their Senate elections in 1978.
Source: Global Atlanta
Future negotiations faced tough opposition
In 1980 in response to the Soviets' Afghanistan invasion, when Carter asked the Senate to table the SALT II Treaty, he encountered stiff political opposition because it was perceived as part of an overall reduction of American power similar to the effect of the Carter-Torrijos treaties.
"The president said we must ratify the SALT II Treaty because no one will like us if we don't. He said we should give away the Panama Canal because no one would like us if we didn't. It is time to tell the President : We don't care if they like us or not. We intend to be respected throughout the world." -Reagan.
(Source: Panama Odyssey, William Jorden)
"The president said we must ratify the SALT II Treaty because no one will like us if we don't. He said we should give away the Panama Canal because no one would like us if we didn't. It is time to tell the President : We don't care if they like us or not. We intend to be respected throughout the world." -Reagan.
(Source: Panama Odyssey, William Jorden)
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