Panama City Wants Musk to Build Tunnel Under Canal

Mayer Mizrachi, the 38-year-old mayor of Panama Metropolis, desires Elon Musk to construct him a pedestrian tunnel below the Panama Canal. And Musk’s Boring Firm not too long ago introduced it simply may.

Panama Metropolis this week was named one of 16 finalists — the one one outdoors the US — within the firm’s Tunnel Imaginative and prescient problem, which presents the successful municipality a free tunnel that can be utilized for freight, pedestrians, water, utilities or Loop — the electrical, underground system that makes use of Tesla autos to move individuals.

Mizrachi’s thought is a 0.6 mile pedestrian tunnel below the Panama Canal, which might give metropolis residents an opportunity to “reside” its historical past and benefit from the important maritime commerce route that’s vital to the worldwide financial system. Extra not too long ago, the canal has been the topic of geopolitical tensions as President Donald Trump threatened to take control of the waterway as a result of, he mentioned, the US was being ripped off by excessive charges and that it had come below Chinese language affect. In February 2025, Panama withdrew from China’s Belt and Street initiative.

The winner might be introduced on March 23. Of the 16 finalists, half have been in Tennessee or Texas, the place the Boring Company is headquartered and the place Mizrachi not too long ago went to make his pitch. The venture, if chosen, has the potential to tie collectively Mizrachi, the previous DOGE chief, and the Panama Canal that Trump as soon as fixated on seizing.

Mizrachi, the youngest mayor within the metropolis’s historical past, based Criptext, a safe e-mail platform, and, like Trump, has styled himself as an outsider. Like Musk, he got here to workplace seeking to reduce authorities within the title of effectivity and insists he has succeeded.

In an interview with POLITICO, which is, together with Enterprise Insider, a part of the Axel Springer International Reporters Community, Mizrachi mentioned the tunnel proposal started as a last-minute response to a Boring Firm social media publish and ballooned from there.

This interview has been edited for size and readability.

How did the tunnel thought start, and what precisely was your pitch to The Boring Firm?

Mizrachi: I merely simply ran right into a tweet by the Boring Firm in January, they usually had this tunnel imaginative and prescient problem, they usually have been providing a free tunnel as much as a mile lengthy anyplace around the globe to one of the best thought. I did a go to in January to the present tunnel that is being constructed for a subway station in Panama Metropolis, and I mentioned, “What if we constructed a pedestrian tunnel crossing the canal with parks on both facet? You’ll be able to inform the story of how the canal was constructed and the historical past of the nation, and the biodiversity.”

Metropolis planners began engaged on a proposal, they usually type of actually introduced the aircraft in for a touchdown with a fantastic proposal, and we submitted that on the final minute of the final day.

What did you be taught in Texas about how The Boring Firm would method this venture?

Mizrachi: We met with Jim Fitzgerald, the VP for world, and we type of took a 101 on how a Boring Firm venture works. Tunnels are freaking costly. But it surely seems that the best way that they do it makes it truly possible, and it is fairly a marvel the best way that they’ve put this collectively.

And as I advised Jim, I mentioned, “Pay attention, I do know that is very preliminary, and listed here are many different initiatives that they are contemplating, however you realize, it could be fairly a marvel that 100 years in the past, you realize, the US constructed the canal, after which 100 years later, that they’d construct a tunnel that crosses the canal in a contemporary marvel of engineering in the best way that they do it.”

They reuse their tunneling machines. Whereas sometimes, the tunneling machines are constructed particularly for a given venture, after which they get buried with the venture.

What would this tunnel imply for Panama, particularly at a second when the canal is caught up in broader geopolitical tensions?

Mizrachi: Initially, Panamanians, we’re actually pleased with the canal, its administration, its historical past, however we seldom get to reside it. So it is like the remainder of the world makes use of the canal. However you realize, Panamanians, we do not reside the canal. You might go to the Miraflores Locks, and also you go to the vacationer heart. You’ll be able to perhaps see a ship, however we do not actually reside it.

So the imaginative and prescient right here is you create a public area the place you combine households, vacationers, they usually can cross the canal themselves with an underground tunnel that is 0.6 miles, the space. It is fairly quick, and I can solely think about it being virtually an academic expertise, the place you may have screens, very skinny screens, as a result of the area isn’t that massive, however skinny screens which are displaying the story, the historical past of how the canal was constructed, the biodiversity of Panama, after which stats on the canal, the impression that it has on world commerce, and so forth. It began as an thought, however it’s shaping up. And I feel it goes above my pay grade. I spoke to the president [of Panama] about this. This must be dealt with by a job power designated by the president in illustration with all the nation.

Why do you suppose Panama Metropolis might beat out American cities for this venture?

Mizrachi: Properly, there’s one very distinctive factor about this. They do not have a canal. The Boring Firm has by no means bored underwater, a lot much less crossing a canal. And I feel it is a part of the worth proposition to indicate themselves as engineers, how far they’ll go along with their mindset, with their methodology and their ingenuity.

Additionally it is a pedestrian tunnel. So it isn’t a loop tunnel that’s managed and operated by the Boring Firm. So when you consider Vegas, they function the Loop itself. So, right here, it is much more palms off. They construct a tunnel, they usually do not need to have an lively operation.

You’ve got drawn comparisons between your work and DOGE-style price slicing in Washington. How do you describe your governing method?

Mizrachi: I imply, truthfully, I nonetheless think about myself an outsider. I’m not subscribed to any political celebration, and I nonetheless very a lot make use of the mindset of the tech entrepreneurial effectivity and check out issues earlier than you scale issues, which is unusual in politics.

As quickly as I got here into workplace in July 2024, I noticed individuals’s cash was being wasted on a scale that I used to be simply shocked to see. So we have been capable of cut back the dimensions of Metropolis Corridor personnel by 50% so it used to have 6,500 individuals. We diminished it to about 3,500 individuals. And by all counts, Metropolis Corridor is working sooner and higher with extra impression, tangible, seen impression, with much less individuals. And likewise, we diminished the funds by about 32%, so we did the largest funds discount within the historical past of the town as effectively.

This story initially ran in POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook and seems on Enterprise Insider by means of the Axel Springer International Reporters Community. The community publishes main tales from the Axel Springer community of publications, a worldwide group of reports shops that features Enterprise Insider.