November 8, 2005
Bush, Meeting Panama's Leader, Endorses Widening of the Canal
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

PANAMA, Nov. 7 - President Bush on Monday endorsed widening the Panama Canal and cited progress in reaching a free-trade agreement with Panama's president, Martín Torrijos, whose friendly reception here was in sharp contrast to some of the hostility that Mr. Bush had encountered on a four-day trip to Latin America.

But Mr. Bush, after saying "we're getting close" on the trade pact between the United States and Panama, said Democrats might block it in Congress, and blamed them for holding up recent trade deals.

"We're going to have to work the Congress," the president said at a joint news conference with Mr. Torrijos at Casa Amarilla, or the Yellow House, a 17th-century mansion that houses the Foreign Ministry and overlooks the Bay of Panama.

Mr. Bush added that in the past, the Democratic Party "had free-trade members who are willing to make the right decisions based not on politics, but based on what's best for the interest of the country, and that spirit has dissipated in recent votes."

His overnight stop in Panama, the last leg of a trip that included visits to Argentina and Brazil, was a respite from the violent street riots and angry demonstrations that greeted him at a weekend summit meeting in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

On a muggy, overcast day here, Mr. Bush appeared merry as he toured the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. He spent an intent half hour inside the control tower, where he opened the lock for a ship, Sirios, that was traveling from Chile to Mexico with a load of lumber.

"It's a marvel," he said at a round-table discussion with Panamanian business and community leaders.

Later, he pitched to Einar Diaz, a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. Mr. Diaz was part of a small crowd of Panamanian baseball greats, including Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, assembled with junior baseball teams on a local diamond to meet the president.

Mr. Bush, a former managing partner of the Texas Rangers, threw two pitches to Mr. Diaz. The first was a bit inside, and the second was high, but both had some pop, according to the assessment of a small pool of reporters traveling with the president.

Polls indicate that Mr. Bush is deeply unpopular in Latin America, but he is probably the least unpopular in Panama, a country that has long ties to the United States and where Americans are well liked. He often drops by this friendly young democracy as his last stop on grueling foreign trips, ensuring that he gets good pictures for the television networks and a personal boost on his way back home.

Administration officials also said that Mr. Bush and Mr. Torrijos, both second-generation leaders of their nations, hit it off personally when Mr. Torrijos visited the White House last spring, and that Mr. Bush was in any case eager to see the canal. Mr. Torrijos, a graduate of Texas A&M, is the son of Gen. Omar Torrijos, Panama's former military strongman.

The Bush family has its own long history in Panama. In 1989, Mr. Bush's father ordered the invasion of Panama and forced President Manuel Antonio Noriega from office. But in June 1992, the first President Bush was forced to a flee a rally in Panama City after gunshots and tear gas were fired at a nearby protest.

On Monday, the current President Bush said he thought it "wise" for Panama's government to consider widening the 90-year-old canal, which is the legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt and is now too small for the biggest ships. The width of the locks is 110 feet; some ships are now more than 160 feet wide.

"Things have changed since the canal was first built, and there needs to be a continued appraisal of the canal to make sure that it's used," he said. "It's in our nation's interest that this canal be modernized."

He gave no indication that the United States would help pay for the widening, for a cost estimated at $7 billion. Nonetheless, Latin American specialists said the president's endorsement would help.

"They don't need permission from us, but they do need to float bonds," said Robert A. Pastor, the director of Latin American and Caribbean affairs in the National Security Council during the Carter administration and now a professor at American University. "Having President Bush make a positive statement about it is helpful in terms of financing."

On the United States-Panama free-trade talks, Mr. Pastor said Mr. Bush and Mr. Torrijos were constrained by the political realities in their countries. The negotiations started in 2003, but faltered in February, in large part because of Panamanian concerns that Americans could sell pork, chicken and rice in Panama at lower prices than local producers.