Secession of Panama from Colombia
With the collaboration of French lobbyist Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla and United States President Theodore Roosevelt, Panama declared independence from Colombia and negotiated a treaty granting the U.S. the right to construct the canal.
The political struggle between federalists and centralists that followed independence from Spain resulted in a shifting administrative and jurisdictional status for Panama.
[1] In March 1885 Colombia thinned its military presence in Panama, sending troops stationed there to fight rebels in other provinces.
[1] The United States Navy was sent there to keep order; however, consistent with its obligations under the treaty of 1846, the ship's commander refused to intervene in the rebellion.
[1] 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 event damaged the trust of Panamanian liberals in the Conservative government based in Bogotá, and they later joined the separatist movement.
The secessionists wanted to negotiate the construction of the Panama Canal directly with the United States due to the negativity of the Colombian government.
[3][8] Meanwhile, President Roosevelt ordered the warship USS Nashville under commander John Hubbard to proceed first to Jamaica, then to Panama.
All these factors would result in the Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama.
[9] The Colombian Government dispatched 500 members of the Tiradores Battalion to Colón on the Caribbean Sea coast, traveling aboard the cruiser Cartagena and merchant ship Alexander Bixio.
[10] The USS Nashville landed on 2 November 1903 at Colón, using as pretext the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty of 1846, which required the U.S. to preserve the peaceful use of the Panama Railroad.
Amador returned home dejected, fearing all was lost, but his wife María de la Ossa came up with a plan to separate the Colombian generals from their troops with help from friends on the railway.
[17] General Huertas, commander of the Colombia Battalion in Panama, eventually ordered the arrest of Tovar and his aides.
[15][19] The Colombian gunboat Bogotá fired shells upon Panama City the night of November 3, causing injuries and mortally wounding Mr. Wong Kong Yee of Hong Sang, China.
News of the secession of Panama from Colombia reached Bogotá only on November 6, 1903 due to a problem with the submarine cables.
[23][dubious – discuss] The mission met aboard the ship USS Mayflower with the Panamanian delegation formed by Constantino Arosemena, Tomás Arias and Eusebio A. Morales, which rejected all proposals.
Colombia then sent a delegation of prominent politicians and political figures; General Rafael Reyes, Pedro Nel Ospina, Jorge Holguín and Lucas Caballero who met with the same representative for Panama and Carlos Antonio Mendoza, Nicanor de Obarrio y Antonio Zubieta, without reaching any consensus.
[27] The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far."
