Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXIX, Panama

12. Letter From President Carter to the Panama Canal Treaty Co-Negotiator (Linowitz)¹

Washington, February 3, 1977

To Sol Linowitz

Cy Vance has brought the Report of the Commission on U.S.-Latin American Relations to my attention, and I want you to know that I welcome and appreciate the initiative of you and your colleagues.² I also want to assure you that it will be given very careful consideration by my Administration.

I am very pleased that you have agreed to serve as Co-Negotiator on the Panama Canal Treaty, as I place the highest priority on negotiating a new treaty. We need it both to protect our interests in the Canal and to begin to build more realistic relationships with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Carter

1. Source: Carter Library, White House Central Files Subject File, Box C0 121, 1. No classification marking.
2. See footnote 5, Document 5. In 1976, the Commission issued a report which stressed the “great urgency of negotiating a new Panama Canal Treaty” among other issues. (Linowitz, The Making of a Public Man, p. 144)