A
I wasn't in Central America but, uh, talking about Latin America, I kind of, I consider Latin America to include Central and South America and I did live in, uh, San Polo Brazil for four years.
B
Do you, do you think that, that we should have given up the Panama Canal?
A
Uh, realistically, I, yes, I don't see the, the Panama Canal that hasn't had a whole lot of usefulness to us recently since it's not, not really big enough to, uh, accommodate the, the shipping that it once did and, uh, maybe it would be better that we let the Panamanians run it however, I think, we're certainly justified in, uh, our actions dealing with, uh, Noriega in this ...
B
Well, there are those that, that, that think that, that, that the Panama Canal has some considerable strategic importance, particularly for the military. Interestingly enough my father was, who was in World War One, and as, uh, as a civil engineer they, they, they offered him a commission as a captain if he would, uh, go in and, and, uh, help with the defenses of the Panama Canal. He had worked for United Fruit Company there,
A
Uh-huh.
B
and they, uh, they, in fact, they had, this was in the, the late twenties and they in fact used some of the equipment that had been left over and, uh, he turned them down. It, it's interesting that, that most people don't realize how small the canal is. Have you ever been there?