PANAMA-SPAIN-CANAL-SACYR-GUPC-DIPLOMACY-PASTOR

Spanish Public Works Minister Ana Pastor (2-L) holds a meeting with the CEO of Spanish builder Sacyr, which leads the works on the Panama Canal's expansion, and executives of the Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium, in Panama City, on January 6, 2014. Pastor is to meet Panama's President Ricardo Martinelli later today to help break a $1.6-billion impasse that threatens to halt work on a major expansion of the Panama Canal. GUPC, which also includes Italian, Belgian and Panamanian companies, has threatened to halt the project in three weeks if canal authorities fail to pay a massive extra $1.6-billion charge. AFP PHOTO / Bienvenido Velasco (Photo credit should read BIENVENIDO VELASCO/AFP via Getty Images)