Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claims ‘thousands’ of Americans died building the Panama Canal

During a Monday appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz falsely claimed that thousands of Americans died building the Panama Canal.

“The nation of Panama did not build the Panama Canal; America did,” the Texas Republican said during a defense of President Trump’s recent suggestion that he might take back ownership of the waterway from Panama, a U.S. ally.

“The nation of Panama did not pay for the Panama Canal; America did. The nation of Panama did not give thousands and thousands of lives in building the Panama Canal; America did. And with Panama, the question is ‘Are they complying with the treaty?'”

Cruz’s math is wildly inaccurate, according to researchers.

Although the Panama Canal was funded by the U.S. government, costing an estimated $15 billion in today’s money, the building of the project was largely carried out by imported labor. The majority of those workers were from Barbados.

More than three-fourths of the 5,609 people who died between 1903 and 1914 building the canal were from the Caribbean, according to Ed Gresser, global trade Vice President for the D.C.-based Progressive Policy Institute. Most workers died of yellow fever, malaria, landslides and workplace accidents, Gresser’s research shows.

Indeed, only 300 or so U.S.-born workers died during the canal’s construction, according to Mathew Parker, the author of Hell’s Gorge: The Battle to Build the Panama Canal.

Cruz’s on-air rant came in the hours before the Senate Commerce Committee, which he chairs, held a hearing on the canal’s impact on U.S. trade and national security.

Cruz called the hearing roughly a month after Trump floated the idea of the U.S. seizing control of the Panama Canal. The senator and other Trump allies have raised concerns about a growing Chinese presence in Panama to help justify such a takeover.

During opening remarks at Tuesday’s committee meeting, Cruz referred to Panama as a “bad actor” when it comes to U.S. foreign policy interests.

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.