Time Essay: That Troublesome Panama Canal Treaty

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The Carter-Torrijos understanding seemed to answer the question of intervention to almost everyone's satisfaction. Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, who has not said how he stands on the treaty, described the understanding as "a very important diplomatic achievement and a big plus for the President and the treaty." Republican Senator Robert Dole, one of the pact's chief critics, called the joint statement a "step in the right direction," his most favorable remark to date.

The Carter-Torrijos understanding also cleared up another controversial point. The treaty gives both nations the right to send its warships through the canal "expeditiously." But how expeditiously? Panamanian officials, under fire from the left, insisted that U.S. vessels would be granted no special treatment. A number of U.S. Senators found that position unacceptable. The new statement specifies that warships of either country would be entitled to "expedited treatment" and, during emergencies, could go to "the head of the line of vessels."

Q. What if the U.S. fails to ratify the treaty?

A. The reaction in Latin America would be dramatic. Countries on the coast of Latin America that depend heavily on the canal—Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela—have privately advised the U.S. that they have some misgivings about eventual Panamanian control. But publicly they would doubtless join the rest of the continent in denouncing the U.S. for a breach of faith. Certainly the rejection would sour American relations with Latin America and intensify distrust and hostility.

Failure to ratify would also be a gift to America's worst enemies. Latin America's left wing opposes the pact because it ensures a U.S.-Panamanian partnership for the foreseeable future and, perhaps more important, because it eliminates a major source of antagonism between the U.S. and its southern neighbors. Notes the Buenos Aires Herald: "The Latin American left is clearly dismayed at the emergence of an agreement which may prove satisfactory to most Latin American opinion, ranging from the center left to the center right." If the Senate were to reject the pact, the Latin left would be able to say, "We told you so," and would probably gain adherents among disillusioned moderates. No right-winger in the U.S. is more fervent in his desire to see the treaty fail than is the Latin American left.

Q. If the U.S. does not ratify the treaty, can it protect the canal from violence?