Panama's Separation from Colombia
Panama seceded from Colombia in November 1903 and signed a canal treaty with the United States sixteen days later. The isthmus had been part of Colombia since independence and had attempted to separate several times. What made the fourth attempt succeed was that Washington wanted a canal and Colombia's senate had unanimously rejected the Hay-Herrán treaty in August, holding that the compensation was too low and the concession of a zone too close to a cession of sovereignty. Roosevelt called the senators contemptible little creatures and considered taking the isthmus outright. The alternative was supplied by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a French engineer and the principal shareholder in the bankrupt company that had tried and failed to dig the canal in the 1880s, and whose shares would be worthless unless the American route went through Panama. He organised the rising, financed it, drafted a declaration and a constitution, and had a flag made. The revolt began on 3 November with almost no fighting, the Colombian troops being bribed and the railway declining to carry them. An American warship arrived to prevent Colombian reinforcements landing, and Washington recognised the new republic within three days. Bunau-Varilla, who had made himself Panama's minister to the United States, signed the treaty before any Panamanian delegation arrived, granting a zone in perpetuity on terms better for the Americans than the ones Colombia had refused. The canal opened in 1914 and was handed over in 1999. Roosevelt's own account of it was that he took the isthmus, started the canal, and left Congress to debate it afterwards. The United States paid Colombia twenty-five million dollars in 1921 in a treaty expressing sincere regret and avoiding the word apology.
- Year: 1903 CE
- Category: Political
