Lyndon B. Johnson photo

White House Statement Following Receipt of a Report on Panama.

January 14, 1964

THE President received a full report on the situation in Panama from Mr. Mann. Mr. Mann emphasized that U.S. forces have behaved admirably under extreme provocation by mobs and snipers attacking the Canal Zone. The President continues to believe that the first essential is the maintenance of peace. For this reason, the United States welcomes the establishment of the Joint Cooperation Committee through the Inter-American Peace Committee.

The United States tries to live by the policy of the good neighbor and expects others to do the same. The United States cannot allow the security of the Panama Canal to be imperiled. We have a recognized obligation to operate the Canal efficiently and securely, and we intend to honor that obligation in the interests of all who depend on it. The United States continues to believe that when order is fully restored it should be possible to have direct and candid discussions between the two governments.

NOTE.: This statement was read by Andrew T. Hatcher, Associate Press Secretary to the President, at the Press Secretary's news conference held at the White House on January 14, 1964.

Lyndon B. Johnson, White House Statement Following Receipt of a Report on Panama. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238747

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