Naval engineer Ilya Espino de Marotta took charge of the Panama Canal administration on Monday, becoming the first woman to lead the waterway at a difficult moment for one of the world's most important shipping routes, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Espino moves up from deputy administrator to the top post, having led the canal's multi-billion-dollar expansion project the previous decade. She is only the fourth Panamanian to hold the position since the United States handed over the interoceanic waterway in late 1999.
