Summary of the Documentary Panama, country that united the world

Student: Mario A. Briceño ID: 4-781-225

In the 19th century, it was desired to build a passage through which the two Oceans
could be united, the Atlantic with the Pacific, but this would represent so many problems
for construction companies, as well as the loss of many lives in the process; all this to
achieve the construction of a canal through the Isthmus of Panama.
Ferdinand de Lesseps of French nationality wants to build a canal in Panama and win
the battle of who is the greatest power against the United States, since the first to begin
construction would be the winner since this would provide a more accessible transit
route for transportation. and trade, and the nation that managed to build the canal would
become the greatest power in the world.
On the part of the United States, Thomas Selfridge was sent on an expedition through
Panama to see what the terrain was like. The expedition resulted in failure due to the
inclemencies that occurred in the dense jungle of Panama. On the part of France,
Ferdinand de Lesseps sends Lucien Wyse, which takes the lives of his men in the
expedition as well as the USA, but Wyse reaches the Pacific Ocean and from there
goes to France to communicate what he found to Lesseps.
After the expeditions, the French began their work, which took them several years to
advance even a little. During the construction of the canal, it passed through several
hands of different engineers, but even so it was a total failure since the living conditions
were terrible, the inclement weather hit with storms and the appearance of strange
diseases decimated around more than 20,000 lives. . One of the engineers who
achieved a breakthrough was Philipe Bunau Varilla who later joined the United States
for his own interests and to recover his shares.
Ferdinand de Lesseps was accused of fraud, extortion and manipulation of the media
and together with his son who was an accomplice they were tried in court, his son was
sent to prison while Lesseps was spared because he was old.
Bunau Varilla travels to the United States and presents to the senators that the
construction of the canal in Panama is possible and that they do not need to start from
scratch because he sells them the half-baked construction done by the French. They
refute him, but he does not give up and manages to speak with the president of the
USA, Theodore Roosevelt, he convinces him and he tries to convince the senate, since
they plan to build a canal through Nicaragua taking advantage of a natural lake several
kilometers long. Bunau Varilla barely manages to convince the senators by spreading
the word that there are volcanoes in Nicaragua and that they are a danger to the
construction of the canal.
Everything was going well until the Thousand Day War broke out in Colombia and
reached Panama with a rebel group led by Don Manuel Amador Guerrero who, despite
being Colombian, felt that he really belonged to Panama and wanted to achieve the
separation of Panama from Colombia. He just lacked the military forces, so he traveled
to the USA to see who could help him. Philipe Bunau Varilla finds out about this and
holds secret meetings with Guerrero, in their last meeting he gives him the declaration
of Independence along with a flag that is considered a lack of respect for Guerrero, but
he accepts and achieves his goal and returns to Panama. .
In Panama the revolution takes place, Amador Guerrero convinces a Colombian
general who has been in Panama for a long time, General Huertas, to join the cause by
giving him a very large bribe of money, Guerrero obtains more forces, the revolution
breaks out and they receive support from the United States. Amador Guerrero also
manages to buy off the Colombian generals who had ships in the Atlantic, ensuring that
not a drop of blood is spilled in the revolution. Panama achieves its separation and the
United States begins the works that the French had left, Bunau Varilla becomes
representative of Panama together with John Hay, they sign a treaty by which Bunau
sells the French company to the United States, giving them a sovereign territory where
They can command and construction begins again.
During the construction of the canal, this time by the Americans, they went through the
same hardships that the French went through. The United States sent a doctor named
William Gorgas who managed to discover that yellow fever and malaria were not the
cause of the supposed fumes that They were released by digging, but by small
mosquitoes. Gorgas reduces mortality rates, but before achieving this, many people die.
The same thing happens with the French company, the channel's board includes
several engineers, such as John Stevens who led the construction of the railroad in the
USA, he achieves better living conditions for the workers together with Dr. Gorgas.
Stevens redesigns the project and advances with the construction of railway systems,
but then presents his resignation, so President Roosevelt hires George Washington
Goethals who manages to finish the construction of the canal, in addition to creating an
artificial lake by damming the Chagres River. This lake is called Gatún. The canal
system is based on locks through which a ship enters, then rises by water level to
Gatun Lake and from there descends to reach the other side.
The first ship to pass through the Panama Canal was the SS Ancón and with this the
canal was inaugurated, this was and is one of the greatest engineering marvels built by
human beings, but at the cost of many lives and even the son today it is still in
operation.