The World - News from Nov. 3, 1988

The Soviet Union officially signed on to the 1977 Panama Canal Treaties by agreeing to recognize the “permanent neutrality” of the strategic waterway in wartime as well as peacetime. In a ceremony at the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington, Soviet Ambassador Yuri V. Dubinin presented a state paper signed by Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev agreeing to “observe and respect the regime of permanent neutrality of the canal” under the terms of the agreement signed by then-President Jimmy Carter and the late Panamanian leader, Gen. Omar Torrijos. The Soviet Union is the 36th nation to sign on to the treaty. William Pryce, deputy U.S. representative to the OAS, said the Administration is “most pleased” by the Soviet action.