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Panama Canal Fireside Chat - 2/1/78 [2]

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Panama Canal Fireside Chat - 2/1/78 [2] Panama Canal Fireside Chat - 2/1/78 [2] Folder Citation: Collection: Office of Staff Secretary; Series: Presidential Files; Folder: Panama Canal Fireside Chat - 2/1/78 [2]; Container 61 To See Complete Finding Aid: http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/library/findingaids/Staff_Secretary.pdf .~---CoW·-­-,...... Plipolllll -··- .... -. - ------- . :, .. Per Secretary' Vance --To start with the second paragraph is to begin with a point which is too defensive ... and a non-issue. We need to make a positive case for the treaties. --On page 10, at the bottom, going into that sort of detail about the estimates for defending the ~ treaty raises all sorts of exciting questions -- but they're not those that we want people to focus upon. --Quoting the last three pages from a letter by somebody else who is not an authority that the opponents will accept is a rather weak conclusion for the speech. In general comment, Secretary Vance has no major objections to the speech draft, but he does not consider it as positive a presentation as could be made. He suggests that the President look at Draft A of the State Department, which makes many of the 1 points, but puts them in a more positive framework. (These were sent to Fallows yesterday .... which apparently Secretary Vance asked be shown to you.) The State Department draft incorporates on page 11 your point about the protection of u.s. workers. ·~: :: .. \I 1/30/78 .. ... (State - A) PANAMA CANAL SPEECH Good evening. For seventy-five years, we have had a treaty which protected our right to use the Panama Canal. For fourteen years, under four Presidents, two of them Democrats and two Republicans, our nation has been trying to come to a new agreement with Panama ove~ the future of the Canal -- a better agreement that would protect our future as we have protected our past. Now the job is almost done. Last summer, our negotiators agreed on two new treaties, which General Torrijos of Panama and I signed last fall. They need only the approval of the Senate to be final. These treaties are backed by every living ex-President and Secretary of State. They are backed by every membe~ of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by thoughtful people of both political parties, by the people of Panama, and by the vast majority of Americans who have dealings with Latin America. .· --·. -2- A growing number of Senators have studied them very care- fully. Many have gone to Panama to see the Canal and to talk to Panamanian leaders. As a result, more and more Senators, of both parties, are announcing their support for the Treaties. They are doing so because they see what is best for our nation. For our security. And for our economy. Many people, before they teamEd the facts of the matter, have had the impression that the Treaties represent a weakening of the United States, and a retreat from world . leadership. -·. -3- That. impression is wronq. The most important reason to ratify the Treaties is that they strengthen our position in the world. The Treaties are supported by our friends around the world -- including the great bulk of world opinion. It is no accident that they are opposed by America's enemies in Latin America-and elsewhere-- those who would profit from disorder in Panama and discord between us and our neighbors. Rather than creating a power vacuum in Latin America, the treaties ~{il increase our nation's influence in this hemisphere. They will remove a major source of anti-American feeling and bring us closer to 6ur friends. Let me tell each of you listening and watching tonight how the treaties will help strengthen our security and protect our economic stake in the Canal. For I have found that, when people have heard the full terms of these new agreements, they are usually convinced that the national interest of our country demands that we approve them. -~ / - 4 - / / / Our most important interest in the Canal is to be able to use it. To make sure that we can alwavs use it, we must have the right to defend it. However many U.S. soldiers were needed, I would not hesitate to send them to Panama -- if that were necessary to keep the Canal open. The.Treaties let me do that, and they give that right to every future American President. This right was reaffirmed, in plain language, in a joint statement of understanding between our two governments last October. The Treaties do more: .they also reduce the small chance that it would ever become necessary to send our troops on such a mission. They would enlist the government 3nd people of Panama in a partnership with us to protect the Canal. -5- The Panama Canal was built and operated under the terms of a treaty three-quarters of a century old. Panamanians have considered that treaty unfair to them even though they have faithfully obeyed it. Twice their dissatisfaction has boiled over into violence. There was rioting in Panamc; in 1959, and again in 1964. Three American soldiers and 21 Panamanians lost their lives, and President Johnson considered that matters had gone far enough. After consulting with former President Truman and Eisenhower, he committed this country to begin work on a modern treaty with the Republic of Panama. The result of those long years of work is now before the Senate: a treaty covering the operation of the Canal -6- for the rest of this century, and a second treaty guaranteeing its neutrality forever. The first treaty deals with the main cause of Panamanian discontent -- the existence of a 10-mile-wide zone, administered by a foreign power, right through the middle of their country. We don't need such a zone, any more than we needed a 10-mile-wide strip through Canada when we recently concluded an agreement with that country for a XX-mile international pipeline. The new treaty gives us what we do need, th~ugh the right to use the Canal, the right to keep it open and secure, ,and the right to station troops in Panama for the rest of the century~ Our right to defend the Canal was reinforced in the Joint Statement of Understanding reached by the governments of Panama and the United States last October. The treaty also permits us to set up a new agency of the U.S. Government to run the Canal, so as to assure United States control of its operations for the rest of the century. -7- Panamanians will participate with us in the new agency, and will play an increasingly important role in running the Canal through the lifetime of the treaty. They will also profit from the Canal's operations. In simple terms, the more money the Canal takes in, the more Panama will get. By giving Panama an important stake in the Canal's defense and operations, the new treaty changes her from a passive and sometimes hostile bystander into an active, interested partner, with her own interest -- parallel to our own -- in protecting the Canal. Thus, the Treaties give us the unquestioned right to defend the Canal and to keep it open. And they give the Panamanians a sta~e in anefficient and open Canal. But we face a third question, as well:' in time of war and military need, when we must be able to move our warships quickly, how can we be sure that they will be able to jump the line of waiting -8- vessels and get through the Canal without a fatal delay? We can be sure by ratifying the new treaties. The treaty on neutrality guarantees us the right 11 11 to expeditious passage • To make sure there could be no I possible disagreement_, the Joint Statement makes it clear that we have the right to go to the head of the line. I'd like to read you the exact language. The statement says that our right to expeditious transit, and I quote, ';is intended, and it shall be so interpreted, to assure the transit of such vessels through the Canal as quickly as possible, without any impediment, with expedited treatment, and in case of need or emergency, to go the head of the line of vessels in order to transit the Canal rapidly ... -9- /?.That lanquaqe is simple and clear . .we '.11 have the -same right to use the Canal that we I ve had since the day it opened. And we need that right. Because we have a strong economic as well as defense interest in the Canal. American businessmen want to know that the Canal will remain open for their goods. American farmers want to continue to send their grain through the Canal. Most of our nation's grain exports are shipped from Gulf Coast ports -- and almost all of our grain going to the Far East passes through the Canal. Will the new Treaties protect this economic stake by helping keep the Canal open, and by allowing for the efficient future operation of the Canal, at a reasonable cost? They will. ., -10- The fact that Panama will get substantial revenues from the Canal tolls is an added guarantee that, even if the present government in Panama someday changes, a new government would want to keep the Canal open and operating efficiently. The Canal's continued operation is even more important to Panama than it is to us. ' Much of Panama's economy is based directly or indirectly on the Canal. Panama would be no more likely to close I down the Canal than we would be to close down our Interstate highway system.
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