Separation of Panama from Colombia
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The separation of Panama from Colombia was formalized on 3 November 1903, with the establishment of the
During the
The United States was the first country to recognize the independence of the nascent republic, sending the U.S. Navy to prevent Colombia from retaking the territory during the early days of the new Republic. In exchange for its role in defending the Republic, and for constructing the canal, the U.S. was granted a perpetual lease on the land around the canal, known as the Panama Canal Zone, which was returned to Panama in 1999 under the terms of the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
After the United States, many other nations quickly recognized the independent republic, though Colombia refused to do so until 1909, after receiving a $500,000 concession from Panama to cover its share of the debts it owed at independence.
Prelude
After it
The political struggle between
1885 crisis
An 1846 treaty between Colombia and the United States, the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty,[1] pledged the United States to maintain "neutrality" in Panama in exchange for transit rights in the isthmus on behalf of Colombia.[1] In March 1885 Colombia thinned its military presence in Panama, sending troops stationed there to fight rebels in other provinces.[1] These favourable conditions prompted an insurgency in Panama.[1] The United States Navy was sent there to keep order, in spite of invoking its obligations according to the treaty of 1846.[1]
Thousand Days' War
The Thousand Days' War (1899–1902) was one of the many armed struggles between the Liberal and Conservative Parties which devastated Colombia, including Panama, during the 19th century. This new civil war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Wisconsin. However, the Liberal leader Victoriano Lorenzo refused to accept the terms of the agreement and was executed on May 15, 1903.
On July 25, 1903, the headquarters of the Panamanian newspaper El Lápiz were raided on the orders of the military commander for Panama, General
In 1903, the United States and Colombia signed the Hay–Herrán Treaty to finalize the construction of the Panama Canal but the process[clarification needed] could not be completed because the Congress of Colombia rejected the measure (which the Colombian government had proposed) on August 12, 1903. The United States then moved to support the separatist movement in Panama to gain control over the remnants of the French attempt at building a canal.[citation needed]
Separation
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2020) |
Panamanian politician
The separatist network was formed by Arango, Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero, General Nicanor de Obarrio, Ricardo Arias, Federico Boyd, Carlos Constantino Arosemena, Tomás Arias, Manuel Espinosa Batista and others. Amador Guerrero was in charge of going to the United States to get support for the separatist plan; he also gained the support of important Panamanian liberal leaders and of another military commander, Esteban Huertas.
With strong support, the separatist movement set November 1903 as the time for the separation. However, rumors in Colombia spread but the information managed by the government of Colombia indicated that Nicaragua was planning to invade a region of northern Panama known as the Calovébora. The Government deployed troops from the Tiradores Battalion from Barranquilla, and instructed the commander to take over the functions of the Governor of Panama José Domingo de Obaldía and General Esteban Huertas, whom the government did not trust.
The Tiradores Battalion was led by Generals
The Colombian gunboat
With intentions of building the Panama Canal, the US intervened in this revolt at this time. The addition of the Roosevelt Corollary allowed this intervention. The Roosevelt Corollary was an addition to the Monroe Doctrine that stated the United States had the right to intervene in Latin American domestic affairs, giving them policing power. With this radical addition to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States’ assistance in Panama’s independence was credible. The Roosevelt Corollary provided a solution to their issue of gaining the right to the land of the future Panama Canal. In the midst of the Panama and Colombia conflict, the United States dispatched warships on the coasts of Colombia, primarily the dispatch of USS Nashville by commander John Hubbard. The warship was successful in preventing Colombian troops at Colon. This military move alone sped up the establishment of the Republic of Panama as Colombia agreed to negotiate. The United States had strategic aid to Panama, with the intention of gaining the 10- mile strip of land from Panama.
With the suppression of the Colombian troops, the Revolutionary Junta declared the secession of the Isthmus and later its independence, with the declaration of the
Reactions
On November 13, 1903, the United States formally recognized the Republic of Panama (after recognizing it unofficially on November 6 and 7). On November 18, 1903, the
The ambassador of Colombia in Ecuador Emiliano Isaza was informed of the situation in Panama but did not inform his government to prevent a revolt in Bogotá. The government of Colombia then sent a diplomatic mission to Panama in an effort to make them reconsider by suggesting an approval by the senate of Colombia if they reconsidered the Hay–Herrán Treaty instead of the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty and also proposed making Panama City the capital of Colombia.[4][dubious ]
The mission met aboard the ship
Panama's independence alarmed Chilean authorities about a growing influence of the United States. This made Chile put great efforts to deny a United States purchase of the Galápagos Islands or the establishment of a United States Guantanamo-like naval base there. Chilean diplomacy was backed by Germany and Britain on this issue.[5]
Recognition of Panama as a country
No. | Country | Date of recognition |
---|---|---|
1 | United States | 6 November 1903[6] |
2 | France | 14 November 1903[7] |
3 | Qing Empire | 26 November 1903[7] |
4 | Austria–Hungary | 27 November 1903[7] |
5 | Germany | 30 November 1903[7] |
6 | Denmark | 3 December 1903[7] |
7 | Russia | 6 December 1903[7] |
8 | Norway | 7 December 1903[7] |
9 | Sweden | 7 December 1903[7] |
10 | Belgium | 8 December 1903[7] |
11 | Nicaragua | 15 December 1903[7] |
12 | Peru | 19 December 1903[7] |
13 | Cuba | 23 December 1903[7] |
14 | Italy | 24 December 1903[7] |
16 | United Kingdom | 26 December 1903[8] |
17 | Japan | 28 December 1903[7] |
18 | Switzerland | 28 December 1903[7] |
19 | Costa Rica | 28 December 1903[7] |
20 | Guatemala | 15 January 1904[7] |
21 | Korea | 24 January 1904[7] |
22 | Venezuela | 3 February 1904[7][9] |
23 | Netherlands | 6 February 1904[7] |
24 | Persia | February 1904[7] |
25 | Chile | 1 March 1904[7][10] |
26 | Mexico | 1 March 1904[7][11] |
27 | Brazil | 2 March 1904[7][12] |
28 | Argentina | 3 March 1904[8] |
29 | Siam | 4 March 1904[8] |
30 | Honduras | March 1904[7] |
31 | El Salvador | March 1904[7] |
32 | Spain | 10 May 1904[7][10] |
33 | Holy See | May 1904[7] |
34 | Portugal | 21 May 1904[7][10] |
35 | Serbia | June 1904[7] |
36 | Paraguay |
July 1904[7] |
37 | Romania | July 1904[7] |
38 | Greece | 1904[7] |
39 | Uruguay | 1904[7] |
40 | Ecuador | 21 September 1904[8] |
41 | Colombia | 7 January 1909[13] |
See also
- Colombia–Panama relations
- Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone
- United States involvement in regime change
- Latin America–United States relations
References
- ^ JSTOR 3638968.
- ISBN 9780405020360.
- U.S. Library of Congress. 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- Luis Angel Arango LibraryAccessed 28 August 2007.
- Uniwersytet Warszawski: 135–160.
- ^ "A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Panama". Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Luis Martínez Delgado (1972). Panamá: su independencia de España, su incorporación a la Gran Colombia, su separación de Colombia. p. 158.
- ^ a b c d Willis Fletcher Johnson (1906). Four Centuries of the Panama Canal. New York, H. Holt and Co. p. 186.
- ^ "Relaciones Bilaterales". Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ a b c "Memoria 2011-2012" (PDF) (in Spanish). p. 195. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ "MANUAL DE ORGANIZACIÓN DE LA EMBAJADA DE MÉXICO EN PANAMÁ" (PDF) (in Spanish). December 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ "Panamá sede de la Primera Reunión Técnica Preparatoria de las Comisiones Mixtas de Cooperación entre Panamá y Brasil" (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ "SECESSION OF PANAMA". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 January 1909. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
Further reading
- Collin, Richard H. Theodore Roosevelt's Caribbean: The Panama Canal, the Monroe Doctrine & the Latin American Context (1990), 598pp.
- Graham, Terence. The Interests of Civilization: Reaction in the United States Against the Seizure of the Panama Canal Zone, 1903-1904 (Lund studies in international history, 1985).
- Mellander, Gustavo A., Mellander, Nelly, Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1-56328-155-4. OCLC 42970390, 1999)
- Mellander, Gustavo A., The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years." Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568, 1971)
- Nikol, John, and Francis X. Holbrook, "Naval Operations in the Panama Revolution, 1903," American Neptune, 37 (1977), 253–261.
- Lafeber, Walter. The Panama Canal: The Crisis in Historical Perspective (3rd ed. 1990).
- Turk, Richard . "The United States Navy and the 'Taking of Panama, 1901-1903, Military Affairs 38 (1974), 92-96.
External links
- (in Spanish) Luis Angel Arango Library - Separation of Panama
- (in Spanish) Demetrio H. Brid Presidente de facto de la República - 1903