The Panama Canal Power Struggle
The ports of Balboa and Cristóbal bookend the Panama canal. They don't control the canal, and they have been privately operated by CK Hutchison's Panama Ports Company for decades.
Those old contracts are now in the middle of a legal fight, a sovereignty debate, and a live test of how far national power competitions can reach into commercial infrastructure.
Panama's Supreme Court recently ruled that the legal terms underlying CK Hutchison's port concession were unconstitutional. The concessions have been canceled and Panama has selected two different operators to take over responsibility for…
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