The United States and Panama sign the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which provided for the gradual transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama, culminating in the official handover of control on December 31, 1999, under President Jimmy Carter's administration.
These treaties, including the Panama Canal Treaty and the Neutrality Treaty, established the framework for the eventual transfer of the waterway's operation and management to Panamanian hands. A companion treaty stated that the U.S. could use its military to defend the Panama Canal against any threat to its neutrality. It took more than six months before the Senate voted. More
