Timeline Panama
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In Panama the indigenous Teribe Indians live near the
border of Costa
Rica and number about 2,500. They are led by King Santana, the only
monarch in the western Hemisphere.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.A12)
1503 Jan 9,
Christopher Columbus returned to the mouth of Rio Belen (western
Panama), where he built a garrison.
(http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/v4.htm)
1503 Apr 6, Christopher Columbus
fended off an Indian attack at his garrison at Rio Belen (Panama).
(http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/v4.htm)
1503 Apr 16, Christopher Columbus
abandoned the garrison at Rio Belen (Panama) and sailed for home
(Hispaniola) with 3 ships.
(http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/v4.htm)
1509-1520 The Spanish colonized the area of Nueva
Granada (modern Colombia, Ecuador, Pa-nama, Venezuela).
(http://homepage20.seed.net.tw/web@3/flags/wfh/pg-am-4.htm)
1513 Sept 25, Vasco Nunez de
Balboa, Spanish explorer, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and claimed the
Pacific Ocean for Spain. He was named governor of Panama and the
Pacific by King Ferdinand. In 2004 Hugh Thomas authored “Rivers of
Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire from Columbus to Magellan.”
(HFA, '96, p.38)(TL-MB, 1988, p.10)(SFEC, 9/21/97,
p.C7)(WSJ, 6/2/04, p.D12)
1514 1,500 Spanish settlers went
to Panama.
(TL-MB, p.10)
1519 Aug 15, Panama City was
founded.
(MC, 8/15/02)
1624 May 3, Spanish silver fleet
sailed to Panama.
(MC, 5/3/02)
1739 Nov 22, Adm. Edward Vernon
captured the Spanish city of Portobello, Panama, with a force of 6
British ships.
(PCh, 1992, p.292)
1573 Feb 11, Sir Francis Drake 1st
saw the Pacific Ocean from Panama.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1595 Construction of San Lorenzo
Castle began. It was planned as a depot for gold ship-ments to Spain.
(AM, 7/00, p.23)
1671 Jan 18, Pirate Henry Morgan
defeated Spanish defenders and captured Panama.
(MC, 1/18/02)
1671 Jan 27, Welsh pirate Sir
Henry Morgan (1635-1688) landed at Panama City.
(WUD, 1994 p.931)(MC, 1/27/02)
1848 Dec 26, The 1st
California-bound gold seekers arrived in Panama enroute to SF.
(MC, 12/26/01)
1849 Feb 28, Steamboat service
began from Panama City to SF. Pacific Mail Steamship Co. sent the
steamship California to SF with American gold-seekers and 50 Peruvian
miners.
(AP, 2/28/98) (SFEC, 1/11/98, DB p.40)
1850 Panama’s city of Colon was
founded as the isthmus of Panama became a route for the California gold
rush.
(Econ, 5/17/08, p.47)
1855 The US built the Panama
Railroad.
(SSFC, 5/14/06, p.G4)
1870-1914 In 1977 David McCullough authored "The Path
Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914."
(ON, 1/00, p.3)
1873 May 7, US marines attacked
Panama.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1880 Jan 1, The building of the
Panama Canal was symbolically begun under the direction of French
diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps. Actual construction began a year later.
In 2007 Mat-thew Parker authored “Panama Fever: The Battle to Build the
Canal.”
(http://www.ared.com/history.htm)(Econ, 2/24/07,
p.96)
1880 Mar 8, President Rutherford
B. Hays declared that the United States would have juris-diction over
any canal built across the isthmus of Panama.
(HN, 3/8/99)
1880-1902 Panamanians staged a number of rebellions
to gain independence.
(ON, 1/00, p.2)
1881 Mar 3, The Compagnie
Universelle du Canal Interoceanique was incorporated under French law.
On Feb 4, 1889, it was declared bankrupt and dissolved by Tribunal
Civil de la Seine.
(www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/185.html)
1884 Philippe Bunau-Varilla (25),
a French engineer, went Panama to work on a canal being constructed
under Ferdinand de Lesseps.
(ON, 1/00, p.1)
1889 Feb 4, Ferdinand de Lesseps
(d.1894) abandoned his Panama Canal project. Over 5,000 French people
died working on the project. In all over 25,000 people died during 8
years of work, mostly from malaria and yellow fever.
(Econ, 2/24/07,
p.97)(www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/185.html)
1894 Philippe Bunau-Varilla became
a major stockholder and spokesman in the New Panama Canal Company. He
then offered to sell the company’s assets to the US for $109 million
and later reduced the price to $40 million.
(ON, 1/00, p.1)
1901 Nov 18, The 2nd
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty was signed. The U.S. was given extensive rights
by Britain for building and operating a canal through Central America.
(HN, 11/18/98)
1902 Jan 4, The French offered to
sell their Nicaraguan Canal rights to the U.S.
(HN, 1/4/99)
1902 Jan 18, The Isthmus Canal
Commission in Washington shifted its support to Panama as the canal
site.
(HN, 1/18/99)
1902 May, The Momotomba volcano
erupted.
(ON, 1/00, p.2)
1902 Jun 19, The US Senate voted
in favor of Panama as the canal site. US support for a $40 million
purchase was based on Congressional acceptance for a canal in Panama
rather than Nicaragua, and the acquisition of land to serve as a canal
zone.
(ON, 1/00, p.1)
1902 Jun 28, Congress passed the
Spooner bill, authorizing a canal to be built across the isthmus of
Panama. The US purchased a concession to build Panama canal from French
for $40 million.
(HN, 6/28/98)(MC, 6/28/02)
1902 Sep 17, U.S. troops were sent
to Panama to keep train lines open over the isthmus as Panamanian
nationals struggled for independence from Colombia.
(HN, 9/17/98)
1903 Jan, The Hay-Herran Treaty
with Columbia would have given the United States the land and the right
to build a canal across Panama, but Columbia refused to ratify the
treaty.
(HNPD, 11/18/98)
1903 Mar 14, The Senate ratified
the Hay-Herran Treaty which guaranteed the U.S. the right to build a
canal at Panama. The treaty promised Colombia $10 million plus $250,000
annually for a zone 6 miles wide.
(HN, 3/14/98)(ON, 1/00, p.2)
1903 Oct 10, Philippe
Bunau-Varilla met with Pres. Roosevelt in Washington and told him that
a group in Panama was planning a rebellion. He asked that the US
prevent any Colombian troops from landing to break the rebellion, but
received no specific answer.
(ON, 1/00, p.2)
1903 Nov 3, There was a Revolution
in Panama composed of Panamanian fired departments and some 500
Colombian mercenary troops purchased for some $100,000 by Philippe
Bunau-Varilla’s Panama Canal Company. Panama proclaimed its
independence from Colombia. The US created Panama so that a canal could
be built and maintained
(HFA, '96, p.42)(SFC, 6/2/97, p.A8) (AP,
11/3/97)(ON, 1/00, p.2)
1903 Nov 4, After a one-day coup,
in which an American warship offshore prevented Colum-bia from quelling
the revolt and the only casualty was a Chinese shopkeeper and a donkey,
Pa-nama declared her independence. A jubilant President Theodore
Roosevelt recognized the new republic three days later. The Panama
Canal, a cornerstone of Roosevelt's aggressive foreign policy, was
completed in 10 years.
(HNPD, 11/18/98)(ON, 1/00, p.3)
1903 Nov 6, Panama declared its
independence from Colombia.
(ON, 1/00, p.3)
1903 Nov 7, President Theodore
Roosevelt recognized the new republic. The Panama Canal, a cornerstone
of Roosevelt's aggressive foreign policy, was completed in 10 years.
(HNPD, 11/18/98)(ON, 1/00, p.3)
1903 Nov 18, The Hay-Bunau-Varilla
Treaty was signed, granting the United States a strip of land across
the Isthmus of Panama and the right to build and fortify the Panama
Canal. A jubi-lant President Theodore Roosevelt, at a Panama Canal
construction site, recognized the new republic three days later. The
Panama Canal, a cornerstone of Roosevelt's aggressive foreign policy,
was completed in 10 years.
(HNPD, 11/18/98)(ON, 1/00, p.3)
1904 Feb 3, Colombian troops
clashed with U.S. Marines in Panama.
(HN, 2/3/99)
1904 Feb 23, US acquired control
of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.
(MC, 2/23/02)
1904 May 4, The United States took
over construction of the Panama Canal.
(AP, 5/4/08)
1904 Oct 21, Panamanians clashed
with U.S. Marines in Panama in a brief uprising.
(HN, 10/21/98)
1904 Panama adopted the US dollar
as its currency.
(WSJ, 1/18/98, p.A1)
1904-1913 William Crawford Gorgas (1854-1920), US
Surgeon-Gen, served as the chief sanitary officer of the Panama Canal.
(WUD, 1994 p.610)(MC, 10/3/01)
1906 Nov 9, President Theodore
Roosevelt left Washington D.C. for a 17 day trip to Panama and Puerto
Rico, becoming the first president to make an official visit outside of
the U.S.
(HN, 11/9/98)
1907-1914 George Washington Goethals, US major
general and engineer, was the chief engineer of the Panama Canal.
(WUD, 1994, p.606)
1909 Aug 24, Workers started
pouring concrete for Panama Canal.
(MC, 8/24/02)
1912 Panama Canal workers rioted
on Independence Day.
(SFC, 3/3/09, p.E10)
1912 Engineers dammed the Chagres
River to create the Panama Canal’s main water supply. The submerged
town of Matachin ("kill the Chinese") had been named after hundreds of
Chi-nese railway workers committed suicide over a period of several
months.
(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.C5)
1913 Sep 26, The first boat was
raised in the locks of the Panama Canal.
(HN, 9/26/99)
1913 Oct 10, Panama Canal was
completed when President Woodrow Wilson triggered a blast which
exploded the Gamboa Dike by pressing an electric button at the White
House in Washington, D.C.
(MC, 10/10/01)
1913 Nov 17, The first ship sailed
through the Panama Canal. In 1940 Helen Nicolay authored "The Bridge of
Water: The Story of the Panama and the Canal."
(HN, 11/17/98)(ON, 1/00, p.3)
1914 Jun 7, The first vessel
passed through the Panama Canal. [see Aug]
(HN, 6/7/98)
1914 Aug 15, The Panama Canal
opened to traffic. The Panama Canal, a 52-mile waterway, was completed.
Some 5,000 workers, just 350 of them white, perished in the American
effort. In 1977 David McCullough authored "The Path Between the Seas,"
a definitive account of the building of the Panama Canal. In 2009 Julie
Greene authored “The Canal Builders: Making America’s Empire at the
Panama Canal.”
(WSJ, 7/22/96, p.A11)(SFEC, 11/3/96, p.A16)(HN,
8/15/98)(WSJ, 10/17/02, p.A18)(SFC, 3/3/09, p.E10)
1914 Nov 17, US declared Panama
Canal Zone neutral.
(MC, 11/17/01)
1914-1916 George Washington Goethals served as the
governor of the Canal Zone.
(WUD, 1994, p.606)
1928 Howard Air Force Base was
constructed by the US.
(SFC, 11/2/99, p.A14)
1934 Jul 11, President Roosevelt
became the first chief executive to travel through the Pa-nama Canal
while in office.
(AP, 7/11/97)
1936 Aug 29, John McCain, later
Arizona Senator and 2008 US presidential candidate, was born at the
Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain)
1936 The 16,000-mile Pan-American
Highway project began. It left a 54-mile gap in the jungle of the
Panamanian province of Darien.
(Econ, 10/2/04, p.38)
1940s The US military tested
weapons in Panama.
(SFC, 3/6/98, p.A12)
1946 Mar 1, Panama accepted its
new constitution.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1946-1983 The US Army School of the Americas trained
Latin American military officials. The school was converted for
eco-tourism in 2001.
(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.T4)
1955 Jan 2, Jose Antonio Remon,
president of Panama (1952-55), was assassinated.
(MC, 1/2/02)
1959 Apr 26, The Panamanian gov't
reported 'suppression' of attempted guerilla invasion from Cuba.
(DBD, p.824)
1959 Apr 27, US State Dept.
announced small arms stored in Canal Zone will be provided to
Panamanian forces to repel Cuban invaders.
(DBD, p.824)
1959 Apr 28, Organization of
American States voted unanimously to send a commission to Panama.
(DBD, p.824)
1959 Apr 29, Premier Castro denied
any Cuban role, direct or indirect, in a Panamanian inva-sion.
(DBD, p.824)
1959 May 1, Some 87 guerillas,
mostly Cubans, surrendered without resistance to Panama-nian troops at
the village of Nombre de Dios in response to appeals by Castro.
(DBD, p.824)
1963 Feb-Mar, The US military,
while conducting biological weapons tests, sprayed Bacillus globigii
from aircraft near Fort Sherman Military Reservation in the Canal Zone.
(SFC, 11/1/02, p.A3)
1964 Jan 9, Anti-U.S. rioting
broke out in the Panama Canal Zone, resulting in the deaths of 21
Panamanians and three U.S. soldiers. U.S. forces killed six Panamanian
students protesting in the canal zone. Violent clashes between
Panamanians and American soldiers, which resulted in the deaths of 21
Panamanians and four American soldiers, began when U.S. students’
at-tempted to raise the American flag at the Canal Zone high
school. An order banning the flying of any flags in front of
Canal Zone schools had been issued on December 30, 1963, because of
Panamanian sensitivity to U.S. control of the Zone. These events led to
attempts to renegotiate the Canal Zone’s status.
(HN, 1/9/98)(AP, 1/9/99)(HNQ, 6/10/99)
1964 Jan 10, Panama broke ties
with the U.S. and demanded a revision of the canal treaty.
(HN, 1/10/99)
1968 Oct 11, Pres. Arnulfo Arias
was ousted in a coup by Gen’l. Omar Torrijos. Arias was the founder of
Panama's special security system and opened the vote to women before he
was ousted. Arias went into exile.
(WUD, 1994, p.1687)(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A20)(SFC,
4/29/99, p.D5)(SFC, 9/1/99, p.A14)
1969 Arnulfo Arias (67) married
his secretary Mireya Moscoso (23) in Miami.
(SFC, 9/1/99, p.A14)
1977 Aug 10, US and Panama
negotiations for a Panama Canal Zone treaty, begun on Feb-ruary 15,
were completed [see Sep 7].
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrijos-Carter_Treaties)
1977 Sep 7, Pres. Carter and
Gen'l. Torrijos signed the Panama Canal treaties (the Torrijos-Carter
Treaties) in Washington, DC. The 2 treaties abrogated the Hay-Bunau
Varilla Treaty of 1903 and called for the US to eventually turn over
control of the waterway to Panama. The US Southern Command was
scheduled to withdraw to new Miami headquarters by the end of 1999. The
US agreed to clean up its bases before turning them over. The deal was
negotiated by Sol Linowitz (d.2005).
(AP, 9/7/97)(WSJ, 3/21/05,
p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrijos-Carter_Treaties)
1977 Gabriel Lewis Galindo
(1928-1996) was appointed ambassador to the US with the hope of
negotiating the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama.
(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A20)
1978 Apr 18, The U.S. Senate voted
68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on Dec. 31,
1999.
(AP, 4/18/98) (HN, 4/18/98)
1978 Jun 16, President Carter and
Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos exchanged instruments of ratification
for the Panama Canal treaties.
(AP, 6/16/98)
1979 Oct 1, The 1977 Panama Canal
Treaties entered into force. The US returned the Canal Zone, but not
the canal, to Panama after 75 years.
(http://mexico.usembassy.gov/bbf/bfdossier_PanamaCanal.htm)
1979 Panama gave refuge to the
ousted Shah of Iran.
(WSJ, 3/5/99, p.A1)
1979-2002 Munitions explosions from the 44,000-acre
former US firing range left 24 fatalities over this period. 100,000
pieces of unexploded ordnance were estimated to remain in the ranges
named Empire, Piña and Balboa West.
(SFC, 5/27/02, p.A3)
1981 Jul 31, The leader of Panama,
General Omar Torrijos, died in a plane crash.
(SFC, 1/2/97, p.A20)(AP, 7/31/99)
1982 Apr 1, The U.S. transferred
the Canal Zone to Panama.
(HN, 4/1/98)
1983 Aug 12, General Manuel A.
Noriega (b.1938) assumed command of Panama’s National Guard.
(www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Panama89eng/intro.htm)
1984 Nicolas Ardito Barletta was
elected President.
(SFEC, 6/8/97, Z1 p.3)
1984 The US Army School of the
Americas (b.1946), a training center for Latin American mili-tary
officers, was moved from Panama to Fort Benning, Ga.
(SFC, 9/21/96, p.A3)(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.T4)
1985 The film "The Return of Ruben
Blades" was made by Robert Mugge.
(SFEM, 9/26/99, p.12)
1985 Manuel Antonio Noriega
overthrew Pres. Barletta.
(SFEC, 6/8/97, Z1 p.3)
1985 In Panama Hugo Spadafora, a
dissident leader, was decapitated. Manuel Noriega was later sentenced
to 20 years for the murder.
(SFC, 1/25/07, p.A14)
1987 Jan 22, France named Manuel
Noriega, head of Panama, a Commander of the Legion of Honor (Legion
d’Honneur).
(http://watchingamerica.com/europe1000001.shtml)
1988 Feb 5, A pair of indictments
were unsealed in Florida, accusing Panama's military leader, Gen.
Manuel Antonio Noriega, of bribery and drug trafficking.
(AP, 2/5/97)
1988 Feb 25, Panama's civilian
president, Eric Arturo Delvalle announced the dismissal of Gen. Manuel
Antonio Noriega as commander of the country's Defense Forces. The next
day, Panama's National Assembly voted to oust Delvalle.
(AP, 2/25/98)
1988 Feb 26, Eric Arturo Delvalle,
ousted as president of Panama by the country's National Assembly,
called for a national strike to repudiate Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega.
(AP, 2/26/98)
1988 Mar 11, Pres. Reagan directed
that actions be taken to suspend trade preferences available to Panama
under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the Caribbean
Basin Initiative.
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/031188a.htm)
1988 Mar 18, The government of
Panama, controlled by Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, de-clared a "state
of urgency" in a move apparently aimed at forcing the reopening of
banks and other businesses that closed during Panama's economic and
political crisis.
(AP, 3/18/98)
1988 Apr 8, Pres. Reagan issued
Executive Order 12365 ordering the immediate blocking of all property
and interests in property of the Government of Panama.
(www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1988/101488e.htm)
1988 Apr 30, Gen. Manuel Noriega,
waving a machete, vowed at a rally to keep fighting U.S. efforts to
oust him as Panama's military ruler.
(AP, 4/30/98)
1988 Arnulfo Arias (86), former 3
time president, died.
(SFC, 9/1/99, p.A14)
1989 May 7, Both sides claimed
victory in Panama's national elections, with the opposition also
charging a pattern of fraud. Panamanian voters rejected dictator Manuel
Noriega's bid for reelection. Backed by a coalition of civilian
parties, Guillermo Endara (1936-2009) overwhelm-ingly won the
presidential election, but Noriega refused to recognize the results and
unleashed a wave of repression against his opponents.
(AP, 5/7/99)(AP, 9/29/09)
1989 May 8, Former President
Carter, a leader of an international team observing Panama's elections,
declared that the armed forces were defrauding the opposition of
victory.
(AP, 5/8/99)
1989 May 9, President Bush
complained that Panama's elections were marred by "massive
irregularities," and he called for worldwide pressure on General Manuel
Antonio Noriega to step down as military leader.
(AP, 5/9/99)
1989 May 10, In Panama, the
government of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega announced it had nullified
the country's elections, which independent observers said the
opposition had won by a 3-1 margin.
(AP, 5/10/99)
1989 May 11, President Bush
recalled the US ambassador and planned to dispatch about 1,700 soldiers
and 165 marines in phases to reinforce troops already in Panama.
(www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Panama.htm)
1989 Oct 3, Troops loyal to
Panamanian leader General Manuel Noriega crushed a coup at-tempt by
rebel mid-level officers. The officers, including Maj. Moises Giroldi,
who led the failed coup against Noriega were later executed. Noriega
was convicted in absentia in 1995 and in 1999 Panama sought his
extradition to face trial.
(AP, 10/3/99)(WSJ, 4/7/99, p.A1)(SFC, 1/25/07, p.A14)
1989 Dec 20, The United States
launched Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the
government of Gen. Manuel Noriega. Guillermo Endara replaced Noriega.
The US ended on Feb 13, 1990. It cost $182 million and left 23 US
casualties with 320 wounded. A 1997 book: "The Memoirs of Manuel
Noriega" by Noriega and Peter Eisner told his version.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, BR p.3)(AP, 12/20/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99,
p.A8)(HN, 12/20/99)
1989 Dec 24, Ousted Panamanian
ruler Manuel Noriega, who had succeeded in eluding US forces, took
refuge at the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Panama City. It took
weeks of negotia-tion and loud rock music played incessantly outside
the embassy by American forces before Noriega agreed to give himself up.
(AP, 12/24/99)
1990 Jan 3, Ousted Panamanian
leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking
refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission.
(AP, 1/3/98)
1990 Jan 4, Deposed Panamanian
leader Manuel Noriega was arraigned in federal district court in Miami
on drug-trafficking charges.
(AP, 1/4/00)
1990 Jan 6, Defense Secretary Dick
Cheney told CNN the U.S. invasion of Panama should not be viewed as a
new "Bush doctrine" inclined toward military intervention in countries
where democratic elections had been subverted.
(AP, 1/6/00)
1990 Jan 17, A federal judge in
Miami set March 1990 for the trial of ex-Panamanian leader Manuel
Noriega on drug trafficking charges. After initial delays, Noriega was
tried and convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute
cocaine, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, later cut to 30
years.
(AP, 1/17/00)
1990 Mar 2, A grenade attack in
downtown Panama killed a U.S. soldier and injured 28 other people at
the My Place discotheque on Via Espania and Calle 50.
(AP, 3/2/00)
1991 Jan 18, The US acknowledged
that the CIA and US Army paid Panama’s military leader Manuel Noriega
$322,226 from 1955-1986. Noriega began receiving money from the CIA in
1976.
(www.orlingrabbe.com/part10.htm)(www.bushwatch.com/family.htm)
1991 Apr 22, Sixty people were
killed when a strong earthquake shook Costa Rica and neighboring
Panama, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage.
(AP, 4/22/01)
1991 May 15, Defense lawyers
released docs claiming Noriega is "CIA's man in Panama."
(http://whateveritwasiwasagainstit.blogspot.com/2005/04/may-1991.html)
1992 Apr 4, Jury deliberations
began in the Noriega case in Florida.
(MC, 4/4/02)
1992 Apr 9, Former Panamanian
ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami of eight drug and
racketeering charges; he is serving a 40-year prison sentence.
(AP, 4/9/97)
1992 Jun 10, In Panama US Sgt. Zak
Hernandez (22) was killed by gunfire from a passing car that sprayed
the military vehicle in which he was riding. Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, son
of a Gerardo Gonzalez who is the President of Congress and leader of
the PRD, was arrested and charged along with two others for the
killing. They were found not guilty in 1997.
(SFEC,11/2/97,
p.A19)(www.forusa.org/programs/panama/archives/1297-1.htm)
1992 Jun 11, President Bush's
stopover in Panama en route to the Earth Summit in Brazil was disrupted
when riot police fired tear gas at protesters, preventing Bush from
speaking at a rally praising the revival of democracy in Panama.
(AP, 6/11/97)
1992 Jul 10, A federal judge in
Miami sentenced former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, convicted of
drug and racketeering charges, to 40 years in prison. However, a
judge in March, 1998, cut Noriega's sentence by ten years,
meaning he could be eligible for parole in 2000.
(WSJ, 3/28/96,p.A-1)(AP, 7/10/99)
1993 Nov 21, Three former
Panamanian soldiers were found guilty of involvement in the pre-viously
unsolved 1971 murder of Hector Gallego, a Colombian Roman Catholic
priest.
(AP, 11/21/02)
1994 Jul 7, President Clinton,
visiting Poland, assured the parliament that the U.S. would "not let
the Iron Curtain be replaced by a veil of indifference."
(AP, 7/7/99)
1994 Jul 7, Panama withdrew its
offer to the United States to accept thousands of Haitian refugees.
(AP, 7/7/99)
1994 Jul 19, A bomb ripped apart a
Panama commuter plane, killing 21, including 12 Jews.
(AP, 7/19/99)
1994 Ruben Blades recorded
"Buscando America."
(WSJ, 11/13/02, p.D10)
1994 Ernesto Perez Balladares
campaigned for the presidency at the head of the Democratic
Revolutionary Party (PRD) and was elected. He was later accused of
accepting $51,000 in drug money in the campaign.
(SFC, 9/1/99, p.A14)
1994 Ruben Blades, singer and
actor, ran for the presidency and came in 3rd.
(WSJ, 11/13/02, p.D10)
1995 Manuel Noriega was convicted
in absentia for the 1989 murder of officers involved in a failed coup.
(WSJ, 4/7/99, p.A1)
1996 Jun 24, A coalition of human
rights groups called for early elections saying that the president and
his party have lost authority to rule. Attorney General Jose Antonio
Sossa said that the law for punishing individuals who accept drug money
in political campaigns was not yet in effect when drug money went to
Pres. Balladares.
(SFC, 6/25/96, p.A10)
1996 Jul 4, In Panama police
arrested Jaime Revello, a top Columbian drug lord, and seized 4.5 tons
of cocaine.
(SFC, 7/5/96, p.A13)
1996 Oct 1, The 207-acre Fort
Amodor was transferred to Panama.
(SFC, 10/2/96, p.A8)
1996 The population of Panama was
about 2.5 million.
(SFC, 10/2/96, p.A8)
1997 Jan 16, Panama's Law No. 5
was passed and confirmed a deal in which Hutchison Whampoa, a Chinese
Hong Kong corporation, agreed to pay $22.5 million a year plus what one
Panamanian called "bucket loads of money" under the table.
(www.eagleforum.org/psr/1999/nov99/psrnov99.html)
1997 Aug 13, Pres. Balladares gave
journalist Gustavo Gorriti until the end of the month to leave Panama.
Mr. Gorriti had published investigative articles detailing the
financial dealings of the president’s election campaign, his allies and
gentlemen of questionable character.
(WSJ, 8/13/97, p.A1)
1998 Mar 6, It was reported that
Panama hired a Canadian Indian tribe, the Tsuu T’ina, to clean out
unexploded bombs and shells from an area of Empire Range, which US
military forces abandoned.
(SFC, 3/6/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 22-1998 Nov 9, Hurricane
Mitch was one of the Caribbean's deadliest storms ever causing at least
at least 9,000 deaths in Central America. The storm hit Honduras,
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Jamaica, and Costa
Rica. Later reports put the death toll in Honduras to 6,076. In
Nicaragua the deaths reached 4,000, in Guatemala it was157, and in El
Salvador it was 222. The storm parked over Honduras and rain poured for
6 days straight. Aid of $66 mil was ordered from the US, $8 mil
from the EU, $11.6 mil from Spain along with pledges from other
countries and private organizations.
(SFC, 11/4/98, p.A9)(SFC, 11/6/98, p.A14)(AP,
9/11/04)(www.wunderground.com)
1998 Mark Falcoff authored "Panama
Canal: What Happens When the United States Gives a Small Country What
It Wants," a study of the implications of the canal turnover.
(WSJ, 12/30/98, p.A9)(SFEC, 6/6/99, Z1 p.7)
1999 Mar 11, The US Rodman naval
base was transferred to Panama.
(WSJ, 3/12/99, p.A1)
1999 May 2, In Panama presidential
elections were scheduled. Martin Torrijos, son of Gen'l. Omar Torrijos,
was favored over Mireya Moscoso (52), wife of the late Arnulfo Arias.
Moscoso led the vote in early returns.
(SFC, 4/29/99, p.D5)(SFC, 5/3/99, p.A12)
1999 Sep 1, Mireya Moscoso began
serving as the 1st female president.
(SFC, 9/1/99, p.A14)
1999 Nov 1, In Panama the US
handed over Howard Air Force Base, Fort Kobbe and the Far-fan
residential zone.
(SFC, 11/2/99, p.A14)
1999 Nov 2, In Panama suspected
Colombian rebels hijacked 2 helicopters.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.C2)
1999 Dec 14, In Panama former US
Pres. Jimmy Carter symbolically turned over the Panama Canal. The
official ownership transfer date was Dec 31.
(SFC, 12/15/99, p.A16)
1999 Dec 31, The US was by a 1977
treaty required to give up control of the Panama Canal and withdraw its
forces by this date. The treaty also required the US to pay for
environmental cleanup.
(SFC, 10/2/96, p.A8)(SFC, 10/15/98, p.C5)
1999 France tried Manuel Noriega,
former dictator of Panama, in absentia on money launder-ing charges. He
was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
(http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39077)
2000 Nov 17, In Panama Luis
Posada, an anti-Castro terrorist, was arrested along with 3 oth-ers
Cuban-Americans for an assassination plot against Fidel Castro at a
regional summit. They were convicted of endangering public security.
(SFC, 11/22/00, p.A19)(SFC, 5/18/05, p.A9)
2000 Nov, Panama planned $5.9
billion project to enlarge the Panama Canal to meet de-mand.
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.C2)
2001 May 14, Panama agreed to
suspend a 66% increase in bus fares for 7 months following protests and
riots in which over 100 people were injured.
(WSJ, 5/15/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 14, In Panama it was
reported that 5 patients died from radiation therapy when in-correct
data was punched into a computer program.
(WSJ, 6/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Feb, The Panama Canal Railway
began coast to coast passenger train service. A con-tainer service
followed in Nov.
(SSFC, 10/20/02, p.C5)
2003 Jan 8, Manuel Ciervides
Lacayo, the Panamanian consul to Guayaquil, Ecuador, was shot and
killed while vacationing in Panama.
(AP, 1/9/03)
2003 Oct 30, In Panama more than
20,000 teachers and construction workers stayed off the job, staging a
daylong strike to demand that the government retain control over the
country's social security system.
(AP, 10/31/03)
2003 Nov 7, The defending champion
US baseball team failed to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics, losing
to Mexico 2-1 in the quarterfinals of a qualifying tournament in Panama
City, Panama.
(AP, 11/7/08)
2003 Dec 25, A strong earthquake
shook the border of Costa Rica and Panama, killing an infant and
leaving dozens of others with mainly minor injuries.
(AP, 12/26/03)
2004 Jan 7, Panama plans for a
canal upgrade in order to accommodate new and larger con-tainer ships
was estimated at $8 billion.
(WSJ, 1/7/04, p.A1)
2004 Jan 10, Panamanian officials
arrested Arcangel de Jesus Henao Montoya, a top leader of the Colombian
Norte de Valle drug cartel, in the southern city of Torti and took him
to Pa-nama City. He was soon handed over to US officials.
(AP, 1/11/04)(SFC, 1/15/04, p.A1)
2004 May 2, Martin Torrijos (40),
son of former military dictator Gen’l. Omar Torrijos, was eas-ily
elected as Panama's next leader in its first presidential vote since
the handover of the Pa-nama Canal and withdrawal of US troops in
December 1999. Torrijos promised to tackle vested interests.
(AP, 5/3/04)(Econ, 1/19/08, p.39)
2004 Jul 2, In Panama a
US-registered small jet crashed into an airport hangar during takeoff
and burst into flames, killing seven people.
(AP, 7/3/04)
2004 Aug 26, Cuba broke diplomatic
ties with Panama after the outgoing Panamanian presi-dent Mireya
Moscoso pardoned four Cuban exiles, including Luis Posada Carriles, the
commu-nist government accuses of trying to assassinate President Fidel
Castro.
(AP, 8/27/04)(SFC, 5/18/05, p.A9)
2004 Sep 1, Martin Torrijos, the
son of a former dictator, took office as Panama's president promising
jobs, better relations with Cuba and a referendum on a proposed $8
billion expansion of the Panama Canal.
(AP, 9/1/04)
2004 Nov 19, Cuba and Panama
agreed to restore consular relations, taking a step toward renewal of
full diplomatic ties at a meeting on the sidelines of an Ibero-American
summit.
(AP, 11/19/04)
2005 Mar 3, The seven Central
American nations (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guate-mala,
Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) agreed to create a rapid-response force
to combat drug trafficking, terrorism and other regional threats.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Apr 4, Evergreen Int’l., a
Panamanian shipping line, pleaded guilty to over 2 dozen counts of
illegal dumping around the US. It was ordered to pay a fine of $25
million, one of the largest ever imposed for polluting the ocean.
(SFC, 4/5/05, p.B8)
2005 May 25, Riot police in Panama
City fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse people throwing
bottles and rocks during a protest by an estimated 10,000 workers and
students against proposed changes in the country's pension system.
(AP, 5/26/05)(WSJ, 5/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Jun 30, In Honduras Central
American leaders agreed to create a regional special forces unit to
fight drug trafficking, gang violence and terrorism within their
borders. The 2-day regional meeting included the presidents of Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gua-temala, Mexico, Nicaragua,
and Panama.
(AP, 6/30/05)
2005 Jul 28, In Panama a 2-day
summit started for 25 members of the Association of Carib-bean States
(ACS). Venezuela said it will continue offering crude on favorable
terms, and even in barter trades, to countries in the region. Thirteen
of the 15 members of the narrower Carib-bean Community group, or
Caricom, mainly island nations, have already signed onto Vene-zuela's
oil initiative.
(AP, 7/29/05)
2005 Aug 20, Cuba and Panama
restored diplomatic ties, one year after they were broken off in a
dispute sparked by the decision by Panama's previous president to
pardon four Cuban ex-iles accused of trying to assassinate Cuban
President Fidel Castro.
(AP, 8/20/05)
2005 Nov 7, President Bush met
with Panamanian President Martin Torrijos in Panama City, Panama, where
they discussed a free trade agreement. President Bush, in Panama,
defended US interrogation practices and called the treatment of
terrorism suspects lawful, saying, "We do not torture."
(AP, 11/7/05)(AP, 11/7/06)
2005 Nov 30, In Cuba Panama's
President Martin Torrijos greeted dozens of his compatriots as they
arrived in Havana for free eye operations, the latest sign of warming
relations between the two countries.
(AP, 12/01/05)
2006 Jan 10, Panama's agricultural
minister resigned, accusing the US of pressuring the Cen-tral American
country to accept lower agricultural inspection standards.
(AP, 1/10/06)
2006 Jan 27, A Panamanian ship
collided with two other vessels near the Peruvian port of Ca-llao,
splitting in two and leaving one sailor missing.
(AP, 1/27/06)
2006 Jul 11, Central American
presidents agreed on a plan to ease border controls and install a
common customs system on the way to negotiating an eventual free-trade
agreement with the EU. The agreement signed by Panama, Costa Rica,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize would allow
residents to cross borders without passports or visas.
(AP, 7/11/06)
2006 Oct 9, Panamanian authorities
said they suspect a medicine taken to treat high blood pressure may be
among the factors leading to the deaths of 21 people since July who
have succumbed to a mysterious illness that triggers kidney failure.
Panama's health minister stopped sales of the medication, Lisinopril
Normon, on Oct 6 and began removing it from phar-macy shelves. About
9,000 Panamanians were taking the medicine. Total deaths eventually
reached at least 116 from contaminated medications [see Oct 18].
(AP, 10/9/06)(AP, 5/10/08)
2006 Oct 18, Panamanian
authorities said that 26 people had died after drinking tainted cough
medicine, and five people had been detained on suspicion of selling
contaminated mate-rial to a factory that produced the medication.
Panama set up 34 round-the-clock clinics across the nation to identify
the sick and perform blood tests for kidney damage. The contaminated
medicines contained a chemical cousin of antifreeze, diethylene glycol,
which is used to keep glue and cosmetics moist. Officials believe it
turned up in 100,000 bottles of cough syrup, 20,000 of which have not
been recovered. In 2007 it was reported that a Chinese factory was the
source of a counterfeit chemical that killed dozens of people in Panama
after it was used in human medications. Total deaths reached 116 from
contaminated medications.
(AP, 10/19/06)(AP, 10/27/06)(AP, 5/6/07)(AP, 5/10/08)
2006 Oct 22, Voters in Panama
approved a $5.25 billion referendum, pushed by Pres, Torrijos, to
expand the Panama Canal. The project was expected to take 8 years and
provide some 7,000 jobs.
(AP, 10/23/06)(Econ, 7/21/07, p.39)
2006 Oct 23, In Panama mechanical
problems triggered a fire that raced through a bus in Pa-nama City,
killing at least 18 people, injuring 25.
(AP, 10/23/06)
2006 Nov 1, Venezuela and
US-backed Guatemala agreed to withdraw from the race and support
Panama, a compromise reached after voting in the UN General Assembly
dragged through 47 rounds of balloting.
(AP, 11/2/06)
2006 Nov 3, Latin American and
Caribbean nations unanimously endorsed Panama for a seat on the UN
Security Council after Guatemala and Venezuela agreed to withdraw to
break a deadlock that dragged on through 47 votes in the General
Assembly.
(AP, 11/3/06)
2006 Nov 7, Panama won a seat on
the UN Security Council on the 48th ballot after US-backed Guatemala
and Venezuela, led by leftist anti-American President Hugo Chavez,
dropped out to end a deadlock.
(AP, 11/7/06)
2006 Nov 24, Panama’s government
said heavy rains and flooding have left at least eight people dead and
damaged hundreds of homes.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2007 Mar 18, Panamanian police
working with agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency seized a
boat off the nation's Pacific coast carrying 21.4 tons of cocaine in
one of the biggest maritime cocaine busts anywhere on record.
(AP, 3/19/07)
2007 Apr 10, In Panama the charred
and mutilated body of Staten Island businesswoman Toni Grossi Abrams
(57) was found on the outskirts of Panama City. Debra Ann Ridgley (56)
of Pennsylvania, was later arrested as a suspect in the killing but had
not been formally charged. Police searched for two other suspects
identified as Colombian men, one of whom has previous drug charges
against him.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2007 Jul 4, A top Panamanian
prosecutor said tests show at least 94 people have died from taking
medicine contaminated with diethylene glycol since July 2006 and that
293 more deaths are under investigation. Total deaths reached 116 from
contaminated medications.
(AP, 7/4/07)(AP, 5/10/08)
2007 Jul 20, China said it had
shut down several firms at the heart of food and drug safety scares,
including a chemical plant implicated in the deaths of 94 people in
Panama. China also said that it "strongly opposed" decisions by the
United States to initiate anti-dumping and coun-tervailing duty
investigations on imports of some woven sacks and steel pipes from
China. Total deaths in Panama reached 116 from contaminated medications.
(AP, 7/20/07)(Reuters, 7/20/07)(AP, 5/10/08)
2007 Aug 27, Panama’s cabinet
resigned after a tainted medicine scandal and the govern-ment’s failure
to implement construction safety standards.
(WSJ, 8/28/07, p.A1)
2007 Sep 1, In Panama Pedro Miguel
Gonzalez Pinzon, a man wanted in the US on charges of involvement in
the killing of an American soldier 15 years ago in Panama, was elected
presi-dent of that country's congress.
(AP, 9/1/07)
2007 Sep 3, Panamanian President
Martin Torrijos celebrated the start of construction on two wider sets
of locks being added to both sides of the Panama canal.
(AP, 9/3/07)
2007 Dec 25, In Panama the bodies
of Michael Klein (37), a California hedge fund manager, his daughter
Talia Klein (13) and pilot Edwin Lasso (23) were found in an
uninhabited region known as Las Ovejas on the slope of the Baru
volcano. Francesca Lewis (12) survived the Dec 23 crash, but cold, wet
weather prevented authorities from evacuating her immediately.
(AP, 12/26/07)(SFC, 12/26/07, p.A4)
2008 Apr 4, In Panama Cecilio
Padron (66), a Cuban-American businessman tied to an influ-ential
anti-Castro organization, was kidnapped. He was released on Feb 23,
2009 following a $3 million ransom. Three national police officers and
two civilians were later detained in connec-tion with the kidnapping.
The police were accused of handing Padron over to his kidnappers in
exchange for $500 each.
(AP, 3/4/09)
2008 May 29, Chile's national
police chief and 10 other people were killed when the aging Panamanian
government helicopter they were riding in crashed into a three-story
building in the heart of Panama City.
(AP, 5/30/08)
2008 Jun 9, Panama security forces
found 6 tons of cocaine in 273 packets on board three boats off Coiba
island. Police were searching for 15 people who escaped the raid.
(AP, 6/11/08)
2008 Jul 1, Panama's Supreme Court
overturned a presidential pardon of four Cuban emigres accused of
plotting to kill Fidel Castro, including former CIA operative Luis
Posada Carriles. The court ruled that 180 pardons granted in 2004 by
outgoing President Mireya Moscoso, including those the four Cubans,
were unconstitutional.
(AP, 7/2/08)
2008 Aug 20, Panama’s President
Martin Torrijos signed an executive order creating a new intelligence
agency and a border police force to combat growing drug crimes. This
prompted concerns of a return to its militarized past.
(AP, 8/21/08)
2009 Feb 28, In Panama Tomas
Altamirano Mantovani (49), a prominent ruling party law-maker and son
of a former vice president, died in a traffic accident.
(AP, 2/28/09)
2009 Apr, The OECD included Panama
on its “grey list” of countries that show insufficient fi-nancial
openness. Panama with its lax corporate laws allows companies to be
created in min-utes and registers over 45,000 new offshore companies a
year.
(Econ, 10/31/09, p.46)
2009 May 3, Panama held elections.
Ricardo Martinelli (57), a conservative supermarket magnate, was
favored to win the presidential elections. Martinelli won the election
in a land-slide, promising to guide the country through the world
economic crisis and an ambitious ex-pansion of the Panama Canal.
(AP, 5/3/09)(AP, 5/4/09)
2009 May 29, The nonbinding New
York Declaration, an agreement between the signatory flag states which
condemns acts of piracy and armed robbery against vessels and
seafarers, was originally tabled by The Bahamas, the Republic of
Liberia, the Republic of Marshall Islands and the Republic of Panama,
four nations that account for more than half of global shipping.
(www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/13476.html)
2009 Jul 1, Businessman Ricardo
Martinelli (57) was sworn in as Panama's new president, promising to
start the biggest job-creation push ever in the country. Martinelli
said he wants to make the nation of 3.3 million inhabitants the best
place to do business in Latin America.
(AP, 7/1/09)
2009 Aug 11, Canada signed a free
trade deal with Panama and said it wanted to conclude more such
agreements, given that talks to open up the global trading system were
going no-where.
(Reuters, 8/11/09)
2009 Sep 28, Guillermo Endara
(73), Panama’s former President (1989-1994), died. He led Panama to
democracy after the US invasion that toppled dictator Gen. Manuel
Noriega.
(AP, 9/29/09)
2009 Oct 31, In Playa Blanca,
Panama, 2 teenage boys wounded an American and a Russian tourist in a
botched robbery attempt. Police announced the arrest of the 2 teenagers
on Nov 3.
(AP, 11/4/09)
2009 Nov 2, Panama's government
said it is building four air and sea monitoring stations on its Pacific
coast to fight trafficking of drugs, weapons and migrants. Assistant
Interior Minister Alejandro Garuz said the sites will be manned by the
national police, border agents and other government agencies.
(AP, 11/2/09)
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