A January 2010 cable … also indicates that [Panama V.P. Juan Carlos] Varela said to the embassy’s number two: “One does not mess with something as important as the Canal. When a bidder makes an offer that is a thousand million dollars below the next competitor, then something is seriously wrong. Of course I have the best hope, but I fear that Alberto [Aleman] has made a big mistake.”
Later, Ambassador Stephenson asked the president, Ricardo Martinelli, on the progress of the canal project. The answer? “Martinelli made a face and seemed to be a little worried. He said he feared the Aleman administrator may have tilted the contest to the consortium including CUSA, directed by his cousin. ”
This cable and others reveal that the U.S. Embassy in Panama did what Stephenson had branded in others as “ruthless lobbying” for the consortium led by U.S. company Bechtel to get the contract to build a third set of locks. The embassy believed that if Bechtel won, it would mean the United States selling over a billion dollars in materials and equipment.
Meanwhile, experts from the Inter American Development Bank estimated the total project cost at $5.9 billion(rather than the official estimate of $ 5.25 billion), while Bechtel estimated that the cost could reach $9.9 billion if the contractor assumed all risk. Bechtel considered challenging the tender, but finally decided not to.