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Show The Lake Tribune WORLD Sunday, May 23 1999 Resentment, Worry GreetHandoverof Panama Canal Panamanianslong critical of U.S., | The PanamaCanal as Americans Worry about secu rity BY 19DROBBERSON DALLAS MORNING i YAMA CITY — When Old slides down the Panama Ca- mission flagpole for the ime at noon Dec. 31, there io Shortage of Panamani- nd Americans wishing it Vt so, Iionemaker Aira Arosemena ries about losing the enor- suiteofjobsthat has kept nerations employed in mcome neighborhood nal’s opening in 1914. of the canal with less-exneed— but less expensive — nians. xo Gomez, a midlevel ¢ Ministry the sed firsthand in other s of the government will 0 infiltrate the canal’s And without its own he asks, howwill a nation of million defend one of the ) Congress as the United nears! Completion of the sae territorial cons ory. Vhen ihe wiltitawal is com> ted. the United States will urrendered 430,000 acres real estate straddling the nfic and Pacific coasts. Wash1 wil-have donated more dozen sprawling bases and 1 military installations to 1a, along with 4,700 buildni ‘ted and maintained during the nine- Thetreaty would be the sub ject of oneof the angriest debates in thehistory of the United States Fort Clayton and pa- Albrook j "| | jg Weaponstesting | areas x Rodman Nava! Stati Howard Air Force Ba Fort Kobbe , ‘a nitely not only risked rupturing bilateral ties, it threatened the verysecurityof the canal “The Cc‘analZonewasan ronism,” said Richard Millett, a Panamapolitical analyst and adJunct professor at the Universi of Miami North-South Center. ‘The general feeling was that long as the U.S. presence in Panama, it was going to be a destabilizing factor The onlything that was likelyto get the canal blown up was our continued presence there — not our absence.” Giventhe magnitudeof the his- Senate and would remain a bone of contention between Panama and the United States for genera- tions to come,” wrote historian David McCullough in his 1977 United States to remain indefi- and fanfare similar to the w Britain handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997 future beyond Dec. 31 are ferent fromthose expressed itary strategists, internashipperts.and members of in Panama Panamanians “had a great sense fended by the unilatera} leaned up today There were exclusive grocery stores and shops. clubs and other facilities constructed servethe American community. For decades, Panamanian entry to this exclusive zone was on | REN Knight Ridder Tribune] States full rights to initiate one of the world’s most amazing con struction feats: the Panama Ca- na More than 75,000 workers, including Jamaicans, Chinese, Italians and Americans, were em- book, The Path Between the Seas. The pact was implementedbe fore Panama was even able to form islature to ratify it Not a Panamanian had beenpre sent” at the signing, McCullough wrote. “Not a word had been spo were killed by yellow fever and ken in Spanish. The aty enabled the United bia to build the canal went bankrupt Once Panama achieved inde- wide Canal Zone as an English speaking American colony. and the Panamanian pe ‘re un malaria, and the French company that had contracted with Colom- States to spendthefollowing nine decades populating the 10-mile- ployed in the U.S. phaseof the pendence, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay neededonly five days to canal’s construction from 1904 to its opening on Aug. 15, 1914 Tens of thousands more were negotiate and sign a treaty with lished military bases across the Panama's newly appointed offi cial envoy to Washington, Phi- th of the canal and built thou sands of buildings to house the employedin adisastrous French eitort to build the canal from 1881 to 1889. That effort was aborted after 000 workers lippe Bunau-Varilla. granting the United States unusually broad sovereign rights over the entire canal route and a zone extending able to do a thin The US ment estab: tens of thousands of Americancivilian and military personnel it needed to manage the canal and its support community. It set up a permis- sion-only basis ‘They thought that this was ‘ould do what their land, and th they wanted wi it,” said Endara, former pres of national dignity that was of- hat Future for Panama? | uch a document 1s one of the main points offriction with the United States even today actions would ‘s and on Panamnants of ed the into a partner,” he explained. The toric moment on Dec. 31, some doubts being raised by aver- ‘SOUTH ‘AIRERICA Panamafrom aresentful country most strategic yet vulnernieroceanie waterways? anamanians about their na- 18 years. had any G Maparea. Overits own destiny, said Robert Pastor, the former U.S. envoy who pee the treaties on behalf of Carte: “Our foal was to transform constant irritant and affront to Panama, Pastor sai For the longtime American em- canal Whe r Bunau-Varilla. a Frenchman who had not set foot choice but to give Panamacontrol sof the canal have con- jior canal pilot Paul 8 8 concerned about Pann efforts to cut costs and posed ME ic mouthsof the canal? Regardless of such secondguessing, the United States has no s that her nation’s tiny omy von't be able to make up 100 million to $300 million i lo Panama’s economy 5 miles GeGristodal Jor ports at the Atlantic and Pacif- ternalistic waythat we wereoper: ating the canal. The ongoing presence of the United States was serving as a etican troops and civilian ibe <3 » miles on both sides of the pro Al3 Americar {, who comttitudes 1950s. ‘TheU.S. military granteditself broad powers toseize land, intervene in Panamanian affairs and use forceto halt protests and uprisings ‘There have been 147 times in our history that the UnitedStates intervened militarily in some form,” said Gomez, the former ally of Noriega, “Think about what that means. It has contribut- ed toa mentality among the Pana- manian people that we cannot do anything without obtaining U permission, that without the gringos, we are nothing Deeper scars were left by the 1989 U.S. invasion. in which hundreds, if not thousands. of Panamanians diedand thousé were left homeles Until then, many | had been content s: more anians wait before the out the final decade Canal Zone was handed over com- pletely to Panama's control. But the invasion engendered so much resentment that some felt the needto register their discontent in more noticeable way Americans want the event to be marked by a blaze of firewor! But the ambivalence is so pro- nounced on both sides, it is not certain whether Carter himself will attend any handover ceremonies. Sofar, the White Housesa that President Clinton does not in tend to attend the final reversion ceremony ‘The presence of the United States in Panama was apositive one, but the vast majority of Panamanians want our indepen dence,” said Guillermo Endara. the democratically elected former president who owes his very inauguration to the presence of U.S. forces on Panamanian soil. Overthrowing Noriega: Endara was unable to occupy ve presidential palace ufifi uriti! troops invadedin 1989to +ie military dictator, Gen el Antonio Noriega Although nee on the Panamanian dara said he is grateful for the contribution that America has made to Panama's economic and democratic evolution, he agreed that the moment has come for stection that U.S. forces 4 helped enable the » crossing of more than There is Costa Rica to the west i. have been dispersed ie world, marking the sincethe 1800s that the ites will not have a mili- ships since the canal’s Aug. 15, 1914. Today <e of 35 vessels, ranging om sailboats to tankers sive cruise ships, pass he canal each day ianiansinsist that the caing, smooth operationis matter of military administrative ex whichthey have no trou pplying Panamanian administers the 1a Canal Commission. the ring body. and 96 of the 8,000 permanent mployees are Panamanian ess, more than aeBY an respondents in a Gallup poll six ati i they believed Panamais {equately prepared to take ¢ canal stowing Impatience: That { mean that Panamanians ing at the US. with nse of tearful nos ny amanians, from ated shoe shiners to the s leading politicians, have impatient with the US and believe that the awal is long overdue r We do not want those bases in country As of Dec. 31, they © finshed.” said Mireya Mos Panana’s president-elect ent President Ernesto Pe aliadares has long been voo his desire to end the Ameri esence onceand for all the American side, many ficians and average citizens nfused about why President y Carter decided in 1977 to Panama Canal treaties. gated the United States ve the end of this century. bey contend that many imporarity questions regarding nal remain unresolved. and are nervously eyeing the { 20,000 leftist guerril iving up one of its most ategic monitoring posts for sg trafficking activities origh sting from Colombia? And why are Chinese companies taking och an interest in canal opera s after having purchased ma- Panama to stand on its own We have a saying here that Panamaactually hasfive borders the Caribbean to the north, Co lombia to the east. the Pacific to the south and the United right through our middle dara joked Others viewthe American pres ence as no laughing matter We areal war.” said Luis “Lu cho” Gomez. a former legislator allied with Noriega during the dictatorship. “Every [American] military person who passes through the streets of Panama outside his own base is vulner ble and the object of attack thereis no environme: betweenus. long as of peace Anti-American sentiments in Panama are nothing new and. in fact, protests and confrontations between Americans and Pai nians date well into the the late 1850s, the United States invaded to quell protests erupted when a US soldier did not pay a Panamanianstreet ven dor for a slice of watermelon In January 1964, when Ameri cans blocked a group of Panai nians fromraising their nalonal flag at the Americans-only Balboa High School. bloody skirmishes erupted in which 18 Panamanians were killed by U.S. troops Pana maniansnipers killed four Ameri can soldiers. Nearly 500 were wounded on both sides Since then, Panamaman {1 day has been observed each on the anniversary of the melon-slice incident. The anniver sary of the Balboa High School confrontation is a day of national observance in Panama, and U S government and military person nel are typically warned to re main indoors because of the dai $449 ger of attack Nevertheless. it is a fact of his tory that Panama owes its very ex istence as a nation to help from the United States. Until 1903, Panama was 4 northern province of Colombia When the US. government failed to win favorable terms from Co lombia to build a canal in Pans ma, the United States sent war ships and provided the necessary military backing for Panamanians to revolt Upon on Nov 3 1903. the new government of Pan ama promptly granted the United 4545 South 900 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84 Phone 801-262-297! $3299 Oper 10 AM to 6 PM + Friday until 9 PM Closed Sundays to the way whites treated blacks in the American South during the ETHAN ALLEN the Interne |
