U.S., Panama Mark Handover of Canal (washingtonpost.com)

Panama Canal workers spruce up a section of the Miraflores locks, Sunday, in preparation for Tuesday's ceremony to commemorate the transfer of the instalations from the U.S. to Panama. (AP)

PANAMA CITY, Panama –– With President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declining to attend, former President Jimmy Carter represented the United States today at a ceremony commemorating the year-end turnover of the Panama Canal.

Carter, who agreed to the handover 22 years ago, rose into the Miraflores Locks atop a "mule" – a machine that tows ships into the locks – alongside President Mireya Moscoso, King Juan Carlos of Spain and six Latin American presidents.

After a tour of the lock installations and the ceremonial passing of a Panamanian-built ship loaded with children in traditional Panamanian costumes, Carter and Moscoso signed a document commemorating the occasion.

"A new relationship now begins between your country and mine," Carter said in Spanish.

He said the original canal treaties were unfair, and that handing the waterway back to Panama was the right thing to do. He also criticized U.S. conservatives who predict the Panamanians will mismanage the canal.

"In my country and in this one there were demagogues who exaggerated problems and spoke about catastrophic events. There are still some in my country spreading false stories about security of the canal," he said.

Moscoso praised what she called "the consolidation of our sovereignty and the recovery of our national territory." She said the canal will operate efficiently and securely under Panamanian stewardship.

"Our final objective is to guarantee safe, efficient and uninterrupted operation of the waterway to satisfy our customers and to benefit our country," she said.

In Washington, Clinton expressed a "continuing commitment" to the canal's security and a determination that the strategic waterway remain open for global commerce.

"Today's ceremony underscores our confidence in the government of Panama and the Panamanian people's ability to manage this vital artery of commerce," Clinton said in a statement.

But his absence at the ceremony upset many in Panama, who said he was succumbing to pressures from U.S. conservatives angered that the canal won't remain in American hands.

"We regret very much that President Clinton won't attend this unique and historic act," Moscoso said Monday.

The 29-member U.S. delegation, led by Carter, also included Army Secretary Louis Caldera and Ambassador Simon Ferro.

The handover of the canal will end a relationship between Panama and the United States that dates to Panama's birth as an independent country in 1903, when it broke away from Colombia. The U.S. government took over the canal project, which was completed in 1914.

The deal gave the canal and a strip of surrounding land to the United States. But under the treaties Carter agreed to, the Americans have been gradually pulling out.

The operation culminates on Dec. 31, when the canal officially becomes Panamanian. The ceremony was moved forward to avoid conflict with millennium activities.

The treaties transfer to Panama 360,240 acres of real estate that made up the Canal Zone, a fenced-in U.S. civilian and military enclave with schools, churches and federal laws. Its crown jewel was the canal, a 50-mile engineering marvel that raises ships from one ocean and deposits them in another through a system of water locks and a man-made lake.

About 14,000 ships pass through the canal every year, steered by Panamanian or U.S. pilots, and pay $540 million in tolls.

Carter signed the treaties in 1977 with Panamanian strongman Gen. Omar Torrijos, who 10 years earlier had come to power through a military coup. While Carter was criticized in the United States, the treaties polished Torrijos' image internationally and made him a national hero. Torrijos died in a plane crash in 1981.

Carter's relationship with Panama has extended beyond the signing of the treaties. In 1989, he came here as an international observer of the presidential elections and witnessed how military strongman Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega nullified the election his candidate had lost.

Carter angrily denounced the maneuver and helped turn international opinion against the Panamanian military. The United States invaded at the end of 1989, arrested Noriega and sent him to a Miami prison.

Despite the ties between the Panama and the United States, Clinton declined an invitation to attend the ceremony, and Albright canceled her trip at the last minute to prepare for Mideast peace talks.

"We are not disappointed because Clinton and Albright are not coming," Panamanian Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman said Monday. "We are planning a big celebration. It is their loss if they do not come."

Still, Clinton's absence, he said, "is an example of the lack of diplomatic attention by the United States to Latin America. The United States lost a chance to look good."

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