Assistance to Panama aims to ensure that Panama remains a safe, prosperous and democratic country that continues to collaborate closely with the United States. The United States and Panama work together to promote common interests, including improving citizen security and strengthening the rule of law. Our countries cooperate in many ways, including the fight against illegal drug trafficking and other criminal activities, as well as the promotion of economic, democratic and social development. Citizens who worked for the Panama Canal before December 31, 1999, were converted and included in the payment per net ton to the National Treasury. More information about Panama is available on the Panama page and in other State Department publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet.
The Canal provides drinking water to the cities of Panama and Colón, promotes tourism activities and contributes to the development of the national maritime sector. The Americans continued to manage it and the military bases were still here, so security was still in the hands of the Americans, but now it was Panamanian land. However, thousands of workers died during its construction, and its history has had no shortage of controversies, including a controversial transfer of authority from the United States to Panama in the decade of 1970. In Panama, he asserted his power over the republic and dominated the country's history for 100 years.
Panama and the United States belong to many of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, and the World Trade Organization. In addition to bilateral trade, Panama facilitates trade as a transshipment hub for all economies in the Western Hemisphere, including the United States, creating an important service-based economy in the country. Changes in the Panamanian government and tensions surrounding the Canal caused diplomatic relations to be interrupted several times during the 20th century. The problem was how that achievement was achieved, which essentially consisted of subordinating part of its territory to an extraterritorial power, through a treaty that no Panamanian signed.
There were many conflicts that led to massacres: students killed by soldiers while trying to raise a Panamanian flag on the Canal. The United States established diplomatic relations with Panama in 1903, after its separation from Colombia. Panama is a founding member of the Alliance for the Development of Democracy (ADD) and the Alliance of the Americas for Economic Prosperity (APEP).On the sidelines of the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, the Government of Panama publicly supported the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection (Los Angeles Declaration), which commits states to protecting the safety and dignity of all migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons, regardless of their immigration status, and recognizes that addressing irregular migration requires a regional approach. Title XIV of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama establishes the Panama Canal Authority as a for-profit institution and stipulates payments to the National Treasury.
