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When did Panama take complete control of the Panama Canal?
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Panama Canal
A passenger cruise ship travels through the Panama Canal.
Panama assumed complete control of the Panama Canal at noon on December 31, 1999.12
On this date, the Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad del Canal de PanamĂĄ) took over full management and responsibility for the canal from the joint U.S.-Panamanian Panama Canal Commission. This transfer was the culmination of the Panama Canal Treaty, signed in 1977 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos, which provided for the gradual transition of the canal's operations and the phaseout of U.S. military presence in the Canal Zone.132