Jimmy Carter to attend Canal expansion opening
FORMER U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who signed the 1977 agreement to hand over operation of the Canal has confirmed his attendance at the inauguration of the expansion of on June 26.
The news was announced Wednesday, May 12 by Vice President and Foreign Minister Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado.
“This is an historic moment where Panama once more put its geography in the service of the world,” she said.
The government has extended invitations to some 70 government leaders for the opening event.
The expansion of the Panama Canal started in 2007 with a budget of $5.25 billion, while the construction of the new locks began in 2009 with a budget of $3.1 billion.
The new locks can accommodate vessels carrying up to 12,000 containers.
Currently, 6 percent of world trade passes through the inter-oceanic waterway.
Jimmy Carter was born in 1924. He was governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975 and president from 1977 to 1981. During his term, Panama and the United States negotiated the treaty that gave Panama control of the Canal following the January 9 1964 deaths of Panama high school students who raised the Panama flag inside the Canal Zone
