OPINION: Canal reputation at risk

For the first time in the recent history of the Canal, part of the staff essential to drive Its operations made a work stoppage and, with it, a door was opened that prudence had kept closed.

Panamanians, as owners of this critical piece of world trade, must ask themselves if the availability of the road must yield to a labor claim, even in the event that this is legitimate. The established precedent is dangerous and cannot be accepted as a valid tactic of pressure against the administration of the Canal.

Its stoppage not only affected the operations of our main asset, but could throw into question our ability to make it work responsibly, in congruence with the sacrifice of the martyrs and the efforts of the generations that fought to recover our sovereignty and, with it, control of this important company.

Very aptly, the Canal was armored with a constitutional title that has served to protect it from political fluctuations and attempts of appropriation of its benefits by different interest groups.

The Canal must not only be an example of engineering; must exercise the same exemplary role in institutional performance, demonstrating to the world that its actors are capable of resolving their differences with assertive dialogue,  but seeking safe and uninterrupted transit through the waterway.  … LA PRENSA, Apr.14