Word: panama
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...home of then Secretary of State John Hay that was later to confront me with the most difficult political battle I had ever faced, including my long campaign for President. On the night of Nov. 18, 1903, a treaty was signed in Washington between the newly proclaimed Republic of Panama and the U.S. No Panamanian had ever seen the treaty, the terms of which were highly favorable to the U.S. Acting for Panama was a French businessman, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, whose authority was doubtful and who had not even visited Panama in 18 years...
...treaty was ratified under Bunau-Varilla's threat that the U.S. would withdraw its protection from the new republic and sign an alternative agreement that would effectively terminate Panama's existence. It was never clear whether John Hay or President Theodore Roosevelt concurred in this remarkable warning. The result of this act was the construction by the U.S. of the Panama Canal within a ten-mile-wide strip of land extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, one of the great engineering achievements of all time and a boon to the seagoing nations of the world. Within...
...outset, Panamanians deeply resented this denial of their authority over part of their territory. That they retained ultimate sovereignty over the Canal Zone was clear from the treaty. Still, some Americans, including some members of Congress, maintained that by granting the U.S. perpetual authority over the Canal Zone, Panama had given away sovereignty as well...
During the 1976 presidential primaries, Ronald Reagan accused the Ford Administration of maintaining a "mouselike silence" in the face of "blackmail" from Panama's "dictator," General Omar Torrijos. Reagan repeatedly used a line guaranteed to get applause: "When it comes to the Canal, we built it, we paid for it, it's ours and we should tell Torrijos and Co. that we are going to keep it!" Reagan's position appealed to many Americans because he presented the issue, simplistically, as a test of our nation's power and greatness...
Nevertheless, I came to believe that a new treaty was absolutely necessary. I was convinced that we needed to correct an injustice. Our failure to take action after years of promises under five previous Presidents was poisoning our relations with Panama. In addition, though we could not talk about it much in public, the Canal was in serious danger from direct attack and sabotage unless a new and fair treaty arrangement could be forged. Our military leaders came to tell me, and also testified to Congress, that the Canal could not be defended permanently unless we were able to maintain...