Americans knew they needed this to move ships from east to west quickly. If they did that, they would control power because they would control the oceans. The Canal was a geopolitical strategy to make the United States the most powerful nation on earth. Also, the economic impact was massive.

Roosevelt agreed to pay $40 million for the rights, and he began to negotiate with Colombia for control of the land. He offered $10 million for a fifty-mile strip across the isthmus. Colombia refused. “We were dealing with a government of irresponsible bandits,” Roosevelt stormed.

In 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia in a U.S.-backed revolution and the U.S. and Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, in which the U.S. agreed to pay Panama $10 million for a perpetual lease on land for the canal, plus $250,000 annually in rent.

In 1903, the newly-independent Panama sold the rights to the canal to the U.S. for $10 million. The U.S. military had a strong presence in the Panama Canal Zone until 1999, when all U.S. military bases were closed. The canal is still used for the transportation of military water vessels.

Today, the Panama Canal Authority owns and controls the canal. The Panama Canal was owned by the United States the entire 20th century despite France’s initial work on the project.

4,000 workers

The Suez Canal saga continues. After it spent six days blocking the crucial waterway, the Ever Given is now being held by the Suez Canal Authority, which demands it must be paid $916 million for the obstruction. An Egyptian court has ruled that the SCA has a right to arrest the vessel until it’s paid.

In a televised address on Tuesday, the head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Osama Rabie, said an 18.6 mile stretch of the waterway would be widened by about 131 feet (40 meters) and deepened by 32 feet (10 meters) to improve the movement of ships in the area. The expansion will take around two years, Rabie said.