Country Article / Postcards

The Americas: Forever Changed in 1880

Date: 11/04/2006

Dear International Living Reader,

Balboa had the idea first. Why go all the way around, he asked himself upon discovering the Pacific Ocean. Why not cut through?

The obvious place for a shortcut was the isthmus of Panama. Many projects were considered over the centuries until, in 1876, the French gained a concession from Colombia, then parent of Panama, to dig a canal. They began work in 1880. But the going was tough. The French underestimated both the manpower (men died of malaria and yellow fever quicker than they could be replaced) and the funds required to pull off the ambitious effort.

The French gave up and returned home. Perhaps most disappointed were the Americans, who badly wanted a quicker way to get ships from one side of their United States to the other. President Teddy Roosevelt took a special interest in the challenge and, by 1900, had decided to make another go at a transcontinental cut. His plan, though, was to build it through Nicaragua. His Nicaraguan Canal would use the San Juan River, Lake Nicaragua, and Lake Managua and would be, according to his advisors, easier going than gouging through the mountains of Panama.

The Nicaraguan Canal probably would have gone ahead if not for Theodore Roosevelt's young nephew, George. President Roosevelt enlisted George's help in final scouting before the start of work on the Nicaraguan Canal. George's report, though, derailed the project entirely, for he pointed out, as no one before him had, that Nicaragua suffers both active volcanoes and regular earthquakes. Why invest hundreds of millions of dollars building something that Mother Nature might, any day, wipe out? A canal through Panama, George insisted, would be shorter and cheaper. It would require less excavation and fewer locks. And it'd be safe from volcanoes and earthquakes.

Trouble was, a deal had already been struck with the Nicaraguans. The U.S. backed out of this contract and turned its attention to Colombia...who resisted the offer the Americans put on the table. Colombia wanted more money for the concession and more control once the canal through its isthmus of Panama was built.

Roosevelt's people had no interest in extended negotiations. Instead, they backed a revolution. In 1903, they helped Panamanian separatists (who had staged six previous and unsuccessful attempts to free their little would-be republic from the Colombians) to form a nation that the Americans banked on being more interested in agreeing more readily to their canal proposal.

You know the rest of the story. The locks were completed in 1913, and the S.S. Ancon made the first official voyage through the canal on Aug. 15 the following year.

Ninety-two years later, the world has outgrown the Panama Canal. Post Panamax freighters can't make it through (ships classified as Panamax are of the maximum dimensions that will currently fit through the locks of the canal). Panama, who took control of the canal through its isthmus in 1999, has been facing an important decision: Make the canal bigger...or no? Two Sundays ago, Panamanians turned out in record numbers to decide the question. They voted 4 to 1 in favor. The Canal Expansion Project is under way.

Elsewhere in this Central American region, political posturing is taking center stage. In Panama, though, the focus seems squarely on business, trade, and economic prosperity. The Canal Referendum, now passed, assures the country's position as the Hub of the Americas for the foreseeable future. It's a shout being heard ‘round the world and reminding us all how committed this country is to its growth agenda.

We've been pointing out regularly for years that Panama's time is now. If you've yet to take our advice and take a closer look, I grab you today by the collar and ask: What the devil are you waiting for? The Great Panama Boom is on.

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living