A veteran Panama Canal engineer becomes first woman to lead the interoceanic waterway

Panama Canal Deputy Administrator Ilya Espino de Marotta speaks at a water rights event focused on the Rio Indigo Lake project in Panama City, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

PANAMA CITY — Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday announced the appointment of Ilya Espino de Marotta to a seven-year term leading the Panama Canal starting Oct. 1, the first woman to hold that post.

The decision followed a weeks-long review process by the Panama Canal Board of Directors, which considered numerous high-profile candidates.

Before Thursday’s appointment, Espino de Marotta, 64, served as the deputy administrator of the interoceanic waterway since taking office on Jan. 1, 2020.

“I have spoken with the new Administrator of the Panama Canal... to congratulate her and reaffirm the commitment to work in coordination on strategic projects that generate jobs, prosperity and progress for Panamanians,” Mulino wrote on X.

A 35-year veteran of the Panama Canal, Espino de Marotta is widely recognized for both her signature pink hard hat and her leadership on megaprojects, including a massive US$5 billion expansion of the waterway.

Among the main challenges for the incoming administrator is the development of two new ports, one at each end of the canal, with tenders scheduled for release in the coming months. These projects, along with upcoming tenders for a natural gas pipeline and a logistics corridor, form the core of the canal’s expansion and diversification strategy.

The canal has been at the center of an international dispute with the U.S. State Department accusing China of violating Panama’s sovereignty over a port dispute in the Central American nation.

The most recent spat was triggered in early April when Rubio accused China of “bullying” by detaining or holding up dozens of Panama-flagged ships — though for a short period of time — after the Central American country seized control of two critical ports on the canal earlier this year from a subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company. China has denied the allegations.

The U.S. has long sought to offset China’s growing presence in Latin America. Panama, in part due to its crucial role in international trade with the Panama Canal, has been particularly caught in a broader rivalry between the two superpowers after Trump accused Beijing last year of running the international waterway.

Espino de Marotta earned a bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in Economic Engineering from the Universidad Santa María La Antigua.

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The Associated Press