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Identify and explain the 4 major interest groups involved in the Panama Canal Negotiations leading up to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

The most important interest group involved in the negotiations that led to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties was of course the government of Panama. But there were also three other interest groups, different parts of the US government: The Department of Defense, which considered the Panama Canal an essential strategic asset that must remain under US military control, the President and Department of State, who wanted the people of Panama to achieve self-determination and become a free and independent country; and the US Congress, which was responsible for ratifying the treaty and was divided between the two extremes, with some in Congress supporting independence for Panama and others insisting on the strategic interest in retaining US control.

An important undertone in all of this was the ongoing Cold War; the President of Panama, Omar Torrijos, had attained power through a military coup and had some socialist leanings that frightened many American policymakers.


Also important was the fact that in 1976, in the middle of negotiations, the US had a Presidential election. President Gerald Ford had supported limited independence for Panama (essentially granting the US control of the canal, but not the country), while the new candidates James Carter and Ronald Reagan wanted to maintain US control. James Carter won the election, and went on to negotiate the treaties---hence "Torrijos-Carter". Initially he was opposed to Panama's independence, but eventually the Secretary of State convinced him that Ford's plan for limited independence was the right approach.

Carter made the treaties top priorities, and despite opposition from the Department of Defense and many in Congress he negotiated the withdrawal of US troops and ceded control of the country to the government of Panama, while including a provision that the canal itself must remain accessible to the US.

There were actually two treaties signed in 1979; one established the neutrality of the Panama Canal, and the other granted independence to Panama. Theoretically it also granted Panama control of the canal, but only after a 20-year lag. The Panama Canal Zone itself was thus not actually ceded to the Republic of Panama until 1999, during the interim, Torrijos died and was replaced by Manuel Noriega, who was forcibly ousted by US troops in 1989.

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