Word: isthmus
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After Hawkins came Francis Drake, a seagoing genius who found the pulsing lifeline of the Spanish empire-the great artery of gold that flowed from Peru to the Isthmus of Panama, and from the Isthmus to Madrid-and tore at it like a tiger. In his most famous exploit, Drake sailed up the west coast of South America, sacking the Spanish seaports as he passed. At Tarapaza, "being landed, we found by the Sea side a Spaniard lying asleepe, who had lying by him 13. barres of silver; we tooke the silver, and left the man." Off Colombia he seized...
...West pass through the canal; such South American nations as Ecuador, Peru and Chile depend on it for between 75% and 90% of their total imports and exports. But ships have slowly outgrown the intricate network of three lock systems that carry them across the hump of the isthmus, and trade is expanding far beyond the canal's capacity to handle it. Over the last ten years, commercial traffic has climbed from 36 million tons annually to almost 65 million tons. Today, some ships lie to for 15 hours or more awaiting their turn. The biggest tankers and aircraft...
...week's end, Johnson sent a mollifying statement to the OAS reiterating his determination to accept "any solution that is fair." If nothing comes of the gesture, the U.S. seems quite willing to wait until after Panama's May 10 elections, when passions and politics in the isthmus republic should be less heated...
Counting the Cost. One possible route crosses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico. Last January Democratic Majority Leader Mike Mansfield proposed that the U.S. and Mexico join with other maritime nations in building the canal. But Mexico's initial reaction was cool. At that, a Tehuantepec canal would be the longest and most expensive to dig, costing $2.3 billion and requiring 815 nuclear explosives. The Nicaragua-Costa Rica route would cost less ($1.9 billion), but raises all sorts of political problems by crossing two countries. Another surveyed route, at the Atrato and Truando rivers of north west Colombia...
...from the United States a commitment to re-negotiate the resented treaty. School children scuffling scuffling a flagpole do not cause violent riots, suspension of diplomatic relations, and risks of political suicide. The current dispute has been festering almost from the time that this country prodded inhabitants of the Isthmus into breaking away from Colombia and then presented the weak, young government with a treaty exchanging American protection and money for a canal zone in which America could act as if sovereign...