How great is the small country of Panama? It has the world's most bullish toll booth and can also make the United States fearful
Although Panama is a small South American country, it has a certain position on the international stage, who let it sit on the world-famous Panama Canal, Panama can make a lot of money by relying on the benefits brought by the canal alone.
The advent of the Grand Canal
After the discovery of the American continent in the Age of Exploration, it was quickly divided among the European powers of the time, and Panama became a Spanish colony. At that time, there was no Panama Canal today, and the transportation of the Americas was not developed, even so, Panama still became the most important trade center at that time, Europe and the United States here to trade and benefit each other, Panama also developed into the most prosperous country in the Americas at that time.
As trade grew larger, the Spaniards realized the adverse economic impact of inaccessibility and, at the request of the King of Spain, finalized plans to dig a canal, a project that lasted nearly 200 years. This is not a deliberate delay in Spain, but is due to technological limitations.
After the 19th century, Spain was finally able to officially start construction, and unfortunately in time for the outbreak of the Latin American War of Independence, the Spanish colonists were driven out of Panama, and the plan to dig the canal had to be terminated. But it is not only European powers that have business acumen, but also newly independent Colombia is aware of the huge role that the canal can play in Latin America's economic development, so it also proposed to dig the Grand Canal.
However, Colombia did not have the ability to dig the canal at that time, and the right to dig the canal still had to be completed by bidding to European and American countries, and the most interested in digging the canal at that time were Spain, France and the United States, all of which had a fairly close interest in the canal.
Needless to say, Panama was a former colony, although it is now Colombian territory, but the Spaniards have always regarded Panama as their home, and have always wanted to complete the plan to dig the canal. The French focused on the interests of Latin America, coupled with the successful experience of digging the Suez Canal, so they were determined to win the Panama Canal.
After all, for the United States, this canal can not only earn a lot of money, but also allow the US Navy's fleet to haunt the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in two directions.
In the end, France won the favor of the Colombian government with its past success in digging the Suez Canal and won the right to dig the canal. France is also confident in its technology, arguing that the Panama Canal is less than half the length of the Suez Canal and is technically difficult to build.
American ambitions
The face of the French was soon snapped by the fan, because the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal are located in a completely different environment, North Africa has an arid climate, and the digging of the canal does not need to consider the interference of precipitation, while Panama is located near the equator, precipitation is extremely abundant, the French finally dug the river channel in less than a day to be washed away by rain.
The French worked hard to build one-third of the canal, voluntarily giving up the right to dig the canal under the double blow of constant interference from the United States and the local climate. This time, Colombia had to re-find a partner willing to take over the canal, and the United States naturally jumped out with joy to take over, and only $40 million bought all the efforts of the French.
When it comes to doing business, European countries are indeed orders of magnitude different from the United States, and the United States is leisurely building canals while fooling Colombia into directly ceding the ownership of the canal to the United States, and the United States is willing to buy canals from Colombia at an initial price of $10 million plus $250,000 a year.
But Colombia is not a fool, and it knows the value of the canal well, so it naturally rejected the rogue-like bid of the United States. Unexpectedly, the United States was more ruthless, seeing that it could not talk about a piece, and simply did not want to give money, directly inciting rebellion in Colombia and splitting Panama from Colombia.
The new Panamanian regime was originally supported by the United States, and happily handed over control of the Panama Canal to the United States. After solving the urgent tasks, the United States can finally focus on the specific construction of the canal. When France dug the canal, the United States encountered many difficulties, but the progress of the canal was not affected, and the United States had long been ready to deal with it.
Digging canals in the tropical jungle was a dangerous job, and France had to pay a lot of money to recruit workers who were willing to accept it, and it was naturally overwhelmed as the demand for manpower grew. In contrast, the United States was much more ruthless, sending hundreds of thousands of blacks and Chinese workers to Panama with coaxing, and forced the canal to be dug out by blood and sweat.
Relying on this canal piled up with the blood of the corpses of blacks and Chinese workers, the United States made a lot of money, and for 65 years from the completion of the canal in 1914 to 1979, the United States has always held absolute control of the Panama Canal, and the Panama Canal has become the most important passage for the United States to access the sea.
Recapture the canal
Panama is an internationally recognized sovereign country, but the United States and Americans are privileged in Panama. The United States not only has troops in Panama, but also extrajudicial immunity. For example, even if an American in Panama commits some heinous crime, Panama has no right to enforce the law and must be brought to trial by the U.S. government.
This privilege made the United States more lawless in Panama, and in 1964, Panamanian patriotic students entered the Canal Zone and asked the Americans to raise the Panamanian flag, which was directly shot and killed by the US military. The unrest that followed was also suppressed by the local U.S. military, killing and wounding hundreds.
But anti-American sentiment in Panama intensified, the current pro-American regime was overthrown, and the new military regime made it its political ideal to regain control of the canal, which was supported by the Panamanian people. In the 70s of last century, the United States finally reluctantly recognized that Panamanian sovereignty belonged to the Panamanian people, but it did not talk about the ownership of the canal.
Source: Great Power General Order
