Panama rallies around US-trained engineer in bitter fight to save canal's $5 billion expansion
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Jorge Quijano has the weight of Panama's pride and a good chunk of global commerce on his shoulders.
Yet weeks of acrimonious, late-night negotiations to rescue the Panama Canal's $5.25 billion expansion haven't taken a toll on the canal's top administrator, who wakes at 5 a.m. each day for a 40-minute walk.
Quijano is struggling to find a way out of a dispute over $1.6 billion in cost overruns that threatens to delay expansion. He's trying to hold the builders to their contract. And Panamanians are cheering him on.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Since the crisis erupted, the nation of 3.4 million has rallied almost unanimously behind the 61-year-old engineer, thrusting him into the media spotlight to defend the canal, which is almost synonymous with the nation's identity.