Giving the Panama Canal to Panama did wonders for that country’s people and economy. Panama is now a stable, prosperous nation that’s moved past the days when a dictator like Noriega could hold power.
So maybe Jimmy wasn’t exactly making the best choice for the USA by letting the canal go, the result has been a stable nation that we don’t need to intervene in like we did in the 1980’s.
Panama was long a stable prosperous nation before Noriega arose. He was a violent anomaly in Panamanian politics, that the Panamanians were not prepared to deal with.
Getting rid of Noriega was what made Panama a free, prosperous and politically stable country (albeit still with its characteristic high crime rate).
Giving them the canal, resulted in them quickly taking a contract from the Chinese to run it. Panama gets a decent revenue, the canal keeps operating, and China has control.
I can see why you said that, but in truth the canal wasn’t given back until the year 2000.
Noriega was removed from office in 1989. As soon as he was gone, the nation seemed to return to normalcy.
The canal may have been a shot in the arm in time.