Touchdown in Panama

Panama City

Back in Latin America, in Panama. A genuine Banana Republic, and so much more.

Panama has quite an interesting history. Typically exploited, like the rest of Latin America, with the unique twist of one of the world's biggest resources: the canal. Panama's history is worthy of volumes and volumes of books. But I'll do what I can to summarize it, skipping out on a lot of gory details and nitty gritty information...

In the late 1800's, fresh off of independence from Spain, Panama wasn't even nationally known as Panama. It was still part of Colombia. A few powerhouse countries understood Colombia's narrow strip of land's significance and its potential for enormous wealth. Japan was interested in building a canal to provide a shipping shortcut between the Atlantic and the Pacific, but didn't manage to get their efforts off the ground. France gave it a go, opting to try to dig the canal below sea level. It didn't work. A few decades passed, a few countries mulled over the idea of trying to construct the canal, but nothing happened. Then, in 1903, with the full support of the United States, Panama declared independence from Colombia. Less than 12 months later, a major US contracting firm began what would become the successful construction of today's Panama Canal. Although employees funneled to Panama from all over the world to work, most of the billions of dollars generated in the construction project quickly found their way back to the US. Not much remained in Panama. As the completion of the canal neared, the US declared the immediate land on both sides of the canal as US territory. The canal tolls and fees would be handled almost exclusively by US banks and interested parties. Again, not much remained in Panama. One small sliver of land bisecting a tiny country, worth billions and billions of dollars, declared as the property of a dominant country more than a thousand miles away. Talk about the ultimate piracy of the 20th century!

Half a century passed, and resentment grew. People and politicians began arguing for, lobbying for, and petitioning for the return of the land surrounding the Panama Canal to Panamanians. The US declined. In the 70's, the popular Omar Torrijos gained momentum in the push to keep money generated from Panamanian resources in Panama for Panamanians. In 1977, Torrijos and President Jimmy Carter crafted the Torrijos-Carter Treaty, which returned the canal and its surrounding territory to Panama, scheduled for the year 1999. After the signing of the treaty, and during his enormous regional popularity, Torrijos' plane mysteriously crashed into a remote mountainside, killing all passengers (within months of a similar accident to the president of Ecuador who shared Torrijos' ideals: money made from Ecuadorian resources should remain in Ecuador for Ecuadorians. His plane also crashed into a remote mountainside).

At that time, a military commander with significant narcotics connections by the name of Manuel Noriega rose in popularity, both with Panamanians and with the CIA. He was among the favorites on the CIA's bankroll, helping funnel resources, dollars, and regional influence into US control. In 1983, he became president of Panama. Then President Reagan and Vice President Bush (former director of the CIA who helped pay Noriega, and indirectly the man in charge of the notoriously corrupt United Fruit Company) determined that the Panama Canal was too valuable to not be in US Control. They offered Noriega "incentives" to return the canal to the US. They assumed he would accept. He didn't. For one reason or another, Noriega recanted his old connections with the CIA and insisted that the treaty with Jimmy Carter be honored. Shortly thereafter, under the guise of removing a narco-dictator with communist sympathies, the US invaded Panama, a country without much of a military, and ultimately killed several thousand Panamanian civilians in the process. The UN strongly condemned the actions by the US. Yet the act was portrayed as heroic in the US.

Ultimately, their plan to retake the canal did not succeed, and the canal was returned to Panama in 1999, as stated in the original treaty.

So here we land, in Panama, 20 years after our country bombed their capital city strictly for economic motivations... A few weeks to wander around the country without any particular plan. 

The tile flooring of Manuel Noriega's former house, 20 years after it was bombed by the US invasion. Inside the skeleton of this old colonial home, we saw a group of Panamanian teenagers smoking, skating, and in general shooting the shit. What a surreal place for a group of teens to meet for a quick cigarette and a few kickflips... The former home of the infamous Noriega, and the site of a dubious bombing campaign by a global superpower. Most kids I know generally skate in parking garages or organized skate parks! And previously that morning, we saw something like a professional photography shoot with two girls in leathery outfits posing at the place's front door. If you're interested in paying a visit, there were no barricades, police, or guards preventing entrance into this old skeleton of a home.