The canal connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, offering ships a shortcut to avoid going around the tip of South America. The canal revolutionized shipping traffic in the region.

Before the creation of the Panama Canal, ships had to sail around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, to travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, a journey that could take months.

The U.S. helped engineer Panama's independence from Colombia to build the canal, which opened in 1914. But it ceded control to Panama in 1999.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio embarks soon on his inaugural trip as the United States’ top diplomat. His first stop, Panama could prove to be the most contentious on the itinerary.

Teddy Roosevelt once declared the Panama Canal “one of the feats to which the people of this republic will look back with the highest pride.” More than a century later, Donald Trump is ...

Donald Trump’s claims that he will push to "take back" the Panama Canal have spurred concerns that the United States could invade the Central American nation.. The US president has argued that ...

The Panama Canal is not merely a relic of America's engineering prowess; it remains a living testament to the nation's global ...

It spares ships having to go an additional roughly 7,000 miles to sail around Cape Horn at South America’s southern tip. ... And, above all, China is operating the Panama Canal." ...

On Tuesday, Trump criticized former President Jimmy Carter for ceding control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government even though the U.S. spent vast sums of money and manpower to build ...

Early this month, Trump suggested he would consider using military force to regain control of the canal from Panama, one of the U.S.'s closest allies in Latin America, describing it as “vital ...

The U.S. helped engineer Panama's independence from Colombia to build the canal, which opened in 1914. But it ceded control to Panama in 1999.

news Politics. A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own The president-elect is threatening to take back the waterway when he takes office.