December 23, 1999
Special Report:
By Franc Contreras
Panamanians had waited to hear the words for almost a century. During the ceremonial transfer of the Panama Canal on December 14 former President Jimmy Carter said simply, "It's yours."
And with that plain statement, ownership of the canal passed to the Panamanians. But these proud and heady days are filled with mixed emotions about the United States and the problems Panaman must face in the coming years.
"We are celebrating an event that will began a new relationship between your country and mine and it is very important for all of Latin America," Carter told the crowd that day, speaking in stilted Spanish.
Even though it was Carter who convinced Congress in the late 1970s to agree to eventually transfer control of the canal to Panama, many Panamanians, including President Mireya Moscoso, were disappointed that President Clinton had not attended the ceremony.
She had gone to Washington recently to personally invite the President to come to Panama for the hand over, but her effort failed. Nonetheless, once at the podium, Moscoso focused on the opportunities the hand over promises.
"For the Panamanian people and the United States government," she said, "the completion of the Panama Canal Treaties demonstrates not only the respect that this country has earned, (but) also initiates a new era of relations between our two nations."
Solo Panama
Many Panamanians believe the transfer and accompanying military pullout will finally make the country truly independent.
"This will definitely be something big for the Panamanian people," a Panama City taxi diver told me. "For many years we longed to be truly sovereign."
Political analyst Jose Blandon agrees. He says the United States decision to pull its military out of Panama gives the country unprecedented freedom. "I think this is the greatest gain we Panamanians are making," Blandon said. "It will produce tremendous political changes."
Some have likened the formal split from the U.S. to a divorce, while others prefer to think of Panama as a country that has finally come of age. Those who support the latter view say this Central American nation must now learn to fend for itself, without the economic and military assistance of the United States.
"Panamanians have learned to live with the Americans, but, at the same time, we feel that we don't want to have the military here," said political analyst Mario Rognoni.
The idea of no longer having a U.S. military presence in Panama makes some Panamanians nervous. Panama, they say, has no national defense force, since the United States destroyed it in 1989 during the invasion to capture former dictator General Manuel Noriega.
In the meantime, there is growing violence along the border with Colombia that could threaten the country and the canal's security. As if to underscore the seriousness of such a threat, Panamanian police made an alarming discovery in the last days of November.
Just 130 miles southeast of the canal, Panamanian helicopters were scouring the border Colombian border when they came across the charred remains of 10 palm-leaf homes in a remote village.
Maria Azajel, who lives near the border, said people in the area fear for their lives. She complains that Colombian paramilitary forces cross into Panama routinely in pursuit of guerrillas.
Kidnappings in the remote border region called the Darien Province are commonplace, and now with the U.S. military gone, many worry about an increase of such attacks.
Also in November, in one of their boldest raids yet, Colombians stole two Panamanian helicopters.
Critics worry that Panama's first line of defense is now its national police force, trained by the U.S., but not trained to fight off a jungle attack along the border with Colombia.
U.S. Brigadier Gen. Michael Aguilar, the chief of the canal's defense until December 31, said U.S. troops still plan to help Panama from bases in Florida and Texas. Aguilar added that troops in Honduras are "forward deployed" (ready to go) if needed.
"We have always had plans for any threats to the canal," said Aguilar. "We now just have to adjust."
Other threats
For some U.S. observers, there is another threat: China.
Conservatives in the U.S., many of whom opposed the hand over, say they fear China has set its sites on the Panama Canal. They point to the Hong Kong-owned company, Hutchison Whompoa, which operates key ports at the Atlantic and Pacific mouths of the canal. The company could be used to spy on the United States, smuggle goods or even mine the canal waterway, they say. President Clinton says the concern is unfounded.
Nonetheless, Canal Administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta, a Panamanian, has had to travel to Washington to calm those concerns.
"There is no Chinese threat," he said. "We have world-class security in the Panama Canal. We will continue to have that."
Panamanian `fire sale'
Another worry in this time of transition involves Pan-ama's history of endemic government corruption.
Professor and author Richard Coster has lived in Panama for 42 years. He says, "The military and their civilian quislings sacked the country for their own benefit and in the process corrupted most of the ruling class of this country. The particular problem Panama has (now) is it's taking over a $2 billion a year enterprise. One wonders whether the government will keep its hands out of the canal cash register."
Under the hand over treaty, Panama receives the deeds to hundreds of houses, shops, restaurants, schools and office buildings used by U.S. troops and canal workers.
Former Panamanian President Nicolas Ardito Barletta, who runs the agency responsible for the economic future of the canal zone, has been selling off billions worth of former U.S. military facilities to mostly foreign companies. But critics say Panama's elite is making off with key properties at bargain rates.
Ardito Barletta denies the charge.
"I can assure you that the activities have been transparent and have been according to the law. And there are checks and balances."
Disgarded history
While he welcomes the American withdrawal, Panamanian Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman says there is something he wishes the U.S. military had not left behind: hundreds of unexploded artillery shells.
"There is no doubt that the work that's been carried out there does not meet the standards required to clean up a base in the United States. There is no doubt about that."
Panama plans to seek reparations for the cost of he cleanup.
Invasive legacy
On a recent morning in the neighborhood of El Chorillo, 10 young men played stickball, as Spanish raggae music blasted from an open door.
This rundown barrio in Panama City was ground zero for the U.S. invasion 10 years ago. El Chorillo was nearly bombed into oblivion during the attack that began at midnight December 20 and lasted until 6 a.m. the next morning.
Anai Cruz, 77, recalled the terror.
"I was right here in my home when I learned what was happening. I thought it was a lie. The bombing was so fierce that I threw myself to the floor with my children and my husband. The lights went out and water was flooding all over. It was very bad, very bad."
Her neighborhood went up in flames. Scores of friends and some relatives died in the attack. Afterward, Cruz rebuilt her life amid the rubble left by the U.S. soldiers.
Yet, she says she doesn't hate the gringos.
"No, I can't be mad at them. I have daughters married to North Americans, I have grandchildren in Hawaii and Michigan. And my father was an American."
Her father was a soldier who came to Panama to protect the canal in the 1920s. When she was three months old, she said, he abandoned her and her mother and returned to the United States. She never saw him again.
Cruz is not unique. Polls show that most Panamanians are sorry about the U.S. pull out of the country. And they certainly will regret the loss of some $350 million yearly that the canal zone brought. But that sentiment is balanced by a deep readiness to move on, to fail or succeed on their own.
Business leader and former presidential advisor Anel Beliz put it this way.
"On Dec. 31, at noon, Panama will not have an excuse anymore to blame the gringos for anything. Now we've got to solve our own problems. And we have to face that reality, that if the canal doesn't run well, it's our blame. And if it runs well, it's our pride."
Panamanians say they're ready for the challenge.
(Contreras is Mexico correspondent for The World and Latin America correspondent for Politico. E-mail franc@laneta.apc.org. A radio version of this article will also be broadcast on National Public Radio's Latino USA. Visit www.lusa.org for a listing of radio stations that carry the program in your area.)
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