Torrijos - Carter Treaty

Torrijos-Carter Treaty, treaty signed by the United States and Panama on September 7, 1977 in which the U.S. agreed to relinquish control of the Panama Canal by December 31, 1999. The treaty takes its name from the two signatories of the treaty, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Nicaraguan dictator Omar Torrijos. The signing of the treaty was, and remains, controversial.