First woman to run Panama Canal takes the helm

Ilya Espino de Marotta, the first woman to administer the Panama Canal, took office on                              Monday, September 7. She promised to manage the interoceanic waterway with efficiency, transparency, and ethics, while facing the challenge of ensuring water for more than two million Panamanians and transforming the institution into a logistics, energy, and services platform.

In her first speech as administrator, Espino de Marotta reviewed the path that began on June 17, 1985, when she arrived as a temporary engineer at the repair dock.

“I know what it means to be the first woman to take over the administration of the Canal. I also know the expectations that come with it. I accept them with humility and determination. But I am also clear that I didn’t get here because I am a woman. I got here because I worked and prepared myself for this responsibility for 41 years,” she said.

The engineer said that her appointment should also serve as a message to Panamanian women, who, she pointed out, do not expect consideration based on gender, but rather recognition of their studies, their responsibility, their effort inside and outside the home, and their professional capabilities.

Espino de Marotta recalled that he was 23 years old when she joined the institution

Her  inauguration coincided with the 49th anniversary of the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, September 7, 1977, and was considered crucial for the recovery of Panamanian sovereignty over the Canal.

 The Panama Canal is preparing to implement an ambitious infrastructure project plan over the next 10 years that will have an even greater scope than the expansion of the interoceanic waterway, reports Miguel Lorenzo, Vice President of Infrastructure and Engineering for the Canal, who highlighted that among the main challenges are guaranteeing water resources, developing new port projects, and advancing the construction of a gas pipeline.