Torrijos–Carter Treaties — treaties signed by the United States and Panama in 1977
These two treaties committed the United States to transfer full control of the Panama Canal to Panama by December 31, 1999, ending nearly a century of U.S. dominance over the waterway.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- September 7, 1977
- Number of treaties
- 2
- Canal transfer date
- December 31, 1999
- Prior treaty superseded
- Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903
- U.S. signatory
- President Jimmy Carter
- Panamanian signatory
- General Omar Torrijos
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Since 1903, the United States had exercised sovereign-like control over the Panama Canal Zone under the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, a situation increasingly resented by Panamanians and challenged by nationalist movements. Decades of tensions, including deadly riots in 1964, prompted diplomatic efforts to renegotiate U.S.-Panamanian relations over the canal.
On September 7, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian National Guard Commander General Omar Torrijos signed two treaties in Washington, D.C. The Neutrality Treaty granted the U.S. a permanent right to defend the canal's neutral operation, while the Panama Canal Treaty stipulated that Panama would assume full operational control and primary defense responsibility at noon on December 31, 1999.
The treaties set a definitive timetable for Panamanian sovereignty over the canal, which was fulfilled on December 31, 1999, when Panama assumed full control. The agreement reshaped U.S.-Latin American relations and demonstrated a shift away from the interventionist posture the United States had maintained in the region since the early twentieth century.