History History

The first human groups were organized into chiefdoms, with beliefs and lifestyles similar to the Chibcha civilization of South America. Semi-nomadic life revolved around fishing, hunting and gathering.

The appearance of the cultivation of corn, beans and manioc favored the development of more sedentary societies, of a theocratic type, with a cacique, notables, religious people and slaves. Ceramics developed.

It is estimated that between 600,000 and 1 million people lived on the isthmus when the Spaniards arrived in the early ^16th century. Different groups shared the territory (Guna, in the east; Parita, Natá, Chirú... in the center; Ngäbe, Changena, Burica... in the west), with no real domination of one group over another.

Rodrigo de Bastidas and his men explore the Caribbean coast of the isthmus. The conquistadors are in search of a passage to the Indies, unaware that they are in the presence of a new continent. A cursed encounter for those they called "Indians". Forced labor and diseases imported from Europe (influenza, smallpox, measles... against which the natives had no immunity) wreaked havoc. The number of indigenous people was divided by 10 in 40 years.

On his^4th voyage to the Indies, Christopher Columbus explored the slightest coastal gap that could be a passage to the west. He explored the archipelago he named Bocas del Toro, and sailed along the coast of Veraguas to a welcoming bay, Porto Bello(Portobelo), where the fleet ran aground after a storm. The Europeans return to the Veraguas to try and settle these gold-bearing lands. Santa María de Belén was founded, but soon abandoned in the face of native hostility.

Diego de Nicuesa, governor of Castilla de Oro, founded Nombre de Dios. The colony is also abandoned in the face of poison darts.

An expedition led by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa settled further east, in the Gulf of Urabá. After a bloody battle with the men of the cacique Cémaco, the Spaniards founded Santa María la Antigua del Darién, the first colonial city in continental America.

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa learns of the existence of a kingdom where the inhabitants use "golden vessels and utensils for drinking and eating". This territory would be located beyond the cordilleras, on the coasts of another sea... A heavy expedition left due south through the thick jungle of the Darién. The conquistadors saw the "South Sea" (renamed Pacific Ocean by Magellan in 1520). On September 29, in San Miguel Bay, Balboa took possession in the name of the Crown of " the seas, lands, coasts and islands of the south, the kingdoms and provinces attached to them ". This was a major step in the history of the Conquest that marked the destiny of the isthmus as a transit route between two oceans, and also heralded great disasters for the peoples of the Andes.

Pedro Arias de Ávila (Pedrarias), the new governor of Castilla de Oro, had Balboa arrested for trying to depose him. Balboa was beheaded in 1519 in Aclá.

On August 15, Pedrarias seized Panamá, a fishing village whose name means "abundance of fish". He founded Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Panamá, which became the new capital of Castilla y León, replacing Santa María la Antigua del Darién, which had been abandoned to the jungle.

After the discovery of the Inca Empire, Panamá saw the arrival of caravels loaded with gold and silver. These treasures, destined for Spain, made their way through the jungle on paved paths(Camino Real and Camino de Cruces) to Nombre de Dios and later Portobelo.

Colonization of the isthmus was a painful process: Indians were forced to work in the mines, while diseases imported from Europe (influenza, smallpox, measles) decimated the population. However, there was strong resistance, such as from the caciques Natá, Penonomé, Paris and Urracá, who joined forces with traditionally hostile tribes to resist the invaders for almost ten years.

Faced with a shrinking indigenous workforce, the Spaniards imported thousands of slaves from Africa. Some managed to escape. These Cimarrones organized themselves into free communities(palenques) and sometimes allied themselves with the Indians or with pirates. Bayano and Filipillo were feared maroon leaders.

Francis Drake seized Nombre de Dios in 1572, then in 1596. Portobelo became the new stronghold of the isthmus in 1597. Huge fairs were organized there, where slaves were traded for gold and silver. The great naval powers - England, France and Holland - gave "letters of marque" to intrepid sailors, authorizing them to attack Spanish ships and trading posts. The most feared privateers were the British Joseph Bradley, Edward Vernon and Henry Morgan.

Sir Henry Morgan, who had taken Portobelo in 1868, returned to Panama with 32 overarmed ships. After destroying the fort of San Lorenzo, he crossed the isthmus to take by surprise the prosperous city of Panamá (today " Panamá la Vieja "), which was set on fire.

The city of Panamá was rebuilt on a peninsula located 8 km west of the old city, at the foot of Cerro Ancón. Surrounded by solid walls, it resisted new pirate attacks. Today it is known as the Casco Antiguo.

After Edward Vernon's final destruction of Portobelo in 1739, Spain imposed the Cape Horn route as a means of reaching its western colonies in South America. The Isthmus lost its main resources in the transit of goods. Agriculture developed, and with it the beginnings of an agrarian oligarchy drawn from the urban elite.

Taking advantage of the Napoleonic Wars on the Old Continent, the independence process spread throughout Latin America from 1810 onwards. The sparsely populated Isthmus of Panama remained loyal to the Crown for a long time. It wasn't until November 10, 1821, that the "First Cry of Independence" was heard in La Villa de Los Santos. It was then taken up again in Natá, Penonomé, Ocú, Parita, then in Panamá on November 28, where a junta of civilians, soldiers and ecclesiastics solemnly proclaimed the isthmus's independence from Spain. Independence was achieved without a fight. The isthmus provinces joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, made up of Venezuela, New Granada (Colombia) and Ecuador.

Wishing to form a great nation made up of emancipated republics, Libertador Simon Bolivar organizes the Panamá Congress.

The Republic of Great Colombia shatters, but the isthmus remains attached to New Granada (current Colombia).

Governor Tomás Herrera proclaimed the separation of Panamá from New Grenada on November 18 and the creation of a sovereign state called Estado Libre del Istmo. The separation lasted only 13 months, Panamá reintegrated the Republic of New Grenada in 1842.

The gold rush in California revived the activity of the isthmus, which became a passageway for forty-niners wishing to avoid the vast North American plains. After reaching the mouth of the Chagres River by boat, it took a week by canoe and on foot to reach Panamá, from where ships left for San Francisco. To facilitate travel, the Panamá Railroad Company began construction of a railroad line between Panamá and Aspinwal(Colón). The work attracted workers from all over the world, especially Jamaicans and Chinese. 12,000 workers lost their lives on the tracks, killed by malaria, cholera and inhuman working conditions. In January 1855, the first trains ran.

The Colombian government grants the Universal Inter-Oceanic Canal Company the rights to build a canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

After the Suez Canal (1869), Ferdinand de Lesseps began construction of the Panama Canal. Engineers and workers arrived from Europe and the West Indies for this titanic project. Landslides, malaria and yellow fever, the mode of transmission of which was unknown, killed 22,000 workers, while financial difficulties and business dealings caused the bankruptcy of the company and the most serious political and financial scandal of the ^Third Republic, the famous "Panama scandal.

A civil war between conservatives and liberals broke out all over Colombia, including in the Isthmus, which sided with the liberal party, close to the commercial bourgeoisie and the peasants. The conflict caused 100,000 deaths. The United States, which wished to take over the construction of the canal, compromised with the two factions to provoke the secession of Panama.

In January 1903, the governor of Panama signed a treaty with Roosevelt's United States for the resumption of work on the canal (Herrán-Hay treaty). The Colombian Congress denounced this as an attack on its national sovereignty. The Panamanians feared that the waterway would be built in Nicaragua, where a project was in the pipeline. A separatist junta, bringing together conservatives and liberals, just out of the civil war, negotiated the protection of the United States in exchange for the signing of a new treaty as soon as independence was obtained. Panamanian independence was declared on November 4. Colombian troops were neutralized in Colón by American ships. Manuel Amador Guerrero was named president of the new Republic of Panama.

The independence was orchestrated by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, French director of the Canal Company. The objective was to sell the rights, buildings and equipment of the company to the Americans. Faced with the threat of the Nicaraguan project, Bunau-Varilla was sent to Washington to sign a new treaty. "The treaty, which no Panamanian had signed, granted the United States a perpetual concession for the construction and operation of the future canal and absolute sovereignty over a 16 km strip of land around the waterway. This North American enclave, the Canal Zone, is a true state within a state.

The Panamanian constitution recognizes the Canal Zone and the possibility for the United States to intervene militarily "in case of disturbance" in Panamanian internal affairs. In return, the Yankees paid the Panamanian state a derisory rent. In the North American enclave, housing, churches and schools were built. Finally, the national currency was indexed to the American dollar.

The American engineers opted for a canal with locks, instead of the level canal of the French project. 75,000 workers were recruited from Barbados, Trinidad, Martinique... The work began with the installation of mosquito nets, the removal of stagnant water and fumigation, after the discovery of the transmission vector of yellow fever and malaria (the Anopheles mosquito). After 10 years of work (and 5,000 new victims), the steamer Ancon made the first official crossing of the inter-oceanic shortcut on August 15, 1914. A technological feat with millions of tons excavated in the mountain range, locks that are still in operation and the imposing Gatún dam that gave birth to the largest artificial lake in the world at the time.

Immigrant populations from the West Indies, Asia and Europe gave rise to a labor movement split between socialist and communist parties. The Action Communale, with fascist tendencies, took power after the economic crisis of 1929.

Massive protests against the segregationist regime of the Canal Zone and the exploitation of farm workers in the banana plantations of the powerful United Fruit Company, the embodiment of North American imperialism in Latin America throughout the ^20th century.

Panama joined the Allies in 1941. Its economy prospered with the massive arrival of American soldiers and major works: military bases, road infrastructures, bridge over the canal...

Ten presidents succeed each other in fifteen years. Only two complete their terms.

Long strikes in the United Fruit Company banana plantations paralyze the economy.

In a school in the Canal Zone, Panamanian students try to raise the national flag next to the US banner. The repression by the U.S. army left 22 people dead and 500 injured. January 9 is now a day of national mourning: el día de los Mártires. Diplomatic relations were broken off for several months.

The populist President Arnulfo Arias was overthrown by young National Guard officers, including General Omar Torrijos, who ruled the country with an iron fist until his death. The new constitution (1972) favors rural and indigenous communities, with agrarian reform. Illiteracy and infant mortality were halved in 10 years. Panama joined the anti-colonial movement.

The Torrijos-Carter Treaty provides for the gradual handover of the canal by the year 2000. In 1979, the country recovered more than 60% of the Canal Zone territory (military bases, ports and the railroad line). The United States retained the right to intervene militarily to ensure the proper functioning of the canal "in the event of internal unrest in Panama.

Torrijos dies in a mysterious plane crash over the Coclé mountains, which the most skeptical attribute to the CIA.

General Manuel Noriega established an authoritarian regime that was largely based on corruption, money laundering and trafficking of all kinds.

The New York Times reveals the close links between Noriega and the CIA in the arms and drug trades, at the origin of the Iran-Contra scandal(Irangate). Relations with Ronald Reagan's United States deteriorate.

Noriega's policy of destabilizing Panama (freezing National Bank funds in the U.S., non-payment of canal royalties, etc.) did not work. On the contrary, in the absence of legal revenues, Noriega developed a vast money-laundering network.

Guillermo Endara, supported by Washington, won the elections in May. Noriega called them off. Pro-democracy demonstrations multiplied, and a new coup d'état failed in October.

Under the pretext of the assassination of an American officer, George Bush's troops invaded Panama on December 20, at 1:00 a.m. 27,000 soldiers, tanks, bombers, helicopters... Just Cause was the largest military operation since the Vietnam War. Panamá and Colón were bombed, in particular the Chorrillo district, which housed the headquarters of the Panamanian Defense Forces. In the midst of the chaos, looting was rampant. The American invasion left between 2,000 and 5,000 people dead or missing, mostly civilians. Noriega was finally arrested on January 3, 1990.

Guillermo Endara, elected president in 1989, inherited an isolated country riddled with corruption. The timid return to growth came at the cost of severe austerity measures. Neoliberal reforms (privatization of public services, energy, ports, etc.) accelerated under his center-left successor, Ernesto Pérez Balladares. Corruption and money laundering are still omnipresent.

Mireya Moscoso, widow of President Arnulfo Arias, became the first woman to lead the country. She did not distinguish herself from her predecessors, with political clientelism at its peak.

Under the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977, the Canal was handed back to Panama. The departure of the North Americans, who had generated many jobs, worried the population, as did the risk of the Canal becoming hostage to political interests. With hindsight, specialists consider that management of the Canal was much better than under the American era.

General Torrijos' son elected president. Unprecedented economic boom, but no reduction in poverty and social inequality. Dirty money is always present and skyscrapers grow like mushrooms.

A 78% referendum approved the widening project. Work will be completed several years late, in June 2016.

The multi-billionaire president, from the conservative party Cambio Democrático, launched a policy of major works: subway, modernization of airports, Cinta Costera III... Growth at 8%, full employment. But the "Panamanian Berlusconi" was plagued by repeated scandals: illegal wiretapping, corruption and favoritism in juicy public contracts, overbilling in a food program for underprivileged schoolchildren...

After 17 years in prison in Florida for drug trafficking, Noriega was extradited to France, where he served a 7-year sentence for money laundering. He was incarcerated for 2 years at the Santé prison before being extradited again to Panama in December 2011, where he was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the disappearance of opponents.

The conservative president, a former vice-president of Martinelli, who became his worst enemy, is also a major entrepreneur in the country (in the alcohol industry in particular, with the Varela Hermanos company). Faced with the explosion of the public debt initiated by his predecessor, he blocked all the projects in progress. His popularity rate dropped as a result.

Panama is making headlines around the world after the revelations of this vast tax evasion scandal via offshore companies. With little transparency, the Panamanian government is playing a balancing act between pressure from the business world and international institutions.

Suspected of espionage, Ricardo Martinelli fled to the United States. He was arrested in Miami, then extradited to Panama in 2018 and imprisoned for 2 years as a preventive measure. He was acquitted in 2019, but other cases of money laundering and misappropriation of public funds have surfaced. His two sons are also implicated in the receipt of $28 million in bribes and will be imprisoned.

^34th edition of the World Youth Day. Pope Francis is welcomed in Panama with great fervor.

The social democrat Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo succeeds Juan Carlos Varela. At 66 years old, this businessman and stockbreeder has promised to fight against the corruption that has tainted the country's image in recent years.

Always at the center of enormous stakes thanks to its inter-oceanic route, Panama celebrates its 500th anniversary in the midst of a trade war between the United States and China, the Canal's first and second largest users.

On the same day, Martinelli was indicted for buying a media outlet with public money, while Varela was indicted for alleged illegal financing of his electoral campaigns by the Brazilian construction group Odebrecht.

The Panamanian authorities reacted firmly to the Covid 19 pandemic: one of the longest lockdowns in the world, gender-specific days/times out, mobility restrictions (curfew, quarantine), closure of schools for more than a year, etc. The economic consequences are disastrous.

Anti-cost-of-living protests and road blockades increased during 2022. The president's popularity fell sharply in the second half of his term, which was to end on June 30, 2024.