If I was asked not too long ago anything about Panama, the only thing that would come to mind would be the canal and some nice beaches maybe. But there is a whole lot more to this little place that divides the Americans into two than one may think.
Panama itself is a fairly young country. It was part of the Colombian empire for a century after breaking away from the Spanish empire before that. In the end of the 1800s, the French pursued the Panamanians to build a canal that would allow them way faster transportation of goods between the Americas. They undertook the work not thinking about the tough weather conditions and they shortly terminated the project due to unbearable working conditions and the outbreak of malaria. In 1903, Panama finally got their independence from Colombia, when the US, according the the locals I spoke with in Panama City, persuaded them to separate from Colombia and finish building the canal which Colombia rejected to sign a treaty to build the Panama canal. did not agree on, but they were easily paid off with 50 million dollars. The US undertook the work and got all the right to run the canal as well. 11 years after, the canal was opened and American owned.
Panama 