Secession of Panama from Colombia

Prelude After achieving independence from Spain on November 28, 1821, Panama became a part of the Republic of Gran Colombia which consisted of today's Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and most of Ecuador. The political struggle between federalists and centralists that followed independence from Spain resulted in a shifting administrative and jurisdictional status for Panama. Under centralism Panama was established as the Department of the Isthmus and during federalism as the Sovereign State of Panama. In 1886, it became the Panama Department of Colombia. 1885 crisis An 1846 treaty between Colombia and the United States, the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, pledged the United States to maintain "neutrality" in Panama in exchange for transit rights in the isthmus on behalf of Colombia. In March 1885 Colombia thinned its military presence in Panama, sending troops stationed there to fight rebels in other provinces. These favourable conditions prompted an insurgency in Panama. 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. Thousand Days' War 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 new civil war ended with the signing of the Treaties of Neerlandia (October 24, 1902) and USS Wisconsin (November 21, 1902). However, the Liberal leader Victoriano Lorenzo refused to accept the terms of the agreement and was executed on May 15, 1903. On July 25, 1903, the headquarters of the Panamanian newspaper El Lápiz were raided on the orders of the military commander for Panama, General José Vásquez Cobo, brother of the then Colombian Minister of War, as a retaliation for the publication of a detailed article narrating the execution and protests in Panama. This event damaged the trust of Panamanian liberals in the Conservative government based in Bogotá, and they later joined the separatist movement. In 1903, the United States and Colombia signed the Hay–Herrán Treaty to finalize the construction of the Panama Canal but the process could not be completed because the Congress of Colombia rejected the measure (which the Colombian government had proposed) on August 12, 1903. ==Secession==

Formation of secessionist movement Panamanian politician José Domingo De Obaldía was selected for the Governor of the Isthmus of Panama, an office that he had previously held, and was supported by secessionist movements. Another Panamanian politician named José Agustín Arango began to plan the revolution and secession. The secessionists wanted to negotiate the construction of the Panama Canal directly with the United States due to the negativity of the Colombian government. The secessionist network was formed by Arango, Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero, General Nicanor de Obarrio, Ricardo Arias, Federico Boyd, Carlos Constantino Arosemena, Tomás Arias, Manuel Espinosa Batista and others. The group was soon joined by Manuel Amador Guerrero, who would become the leader of the independence movement. Amador gained the support of important Panamanian liberal leaders and of another military commander, Esteban Huertas. In September 1903, Amador traveled to New York in September to determine how the United States might support the separation movement. Amador was put in touch with the engineer Philippe Bunau-Varilla, meeting him in a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. Bunau-Varilla wrote the conspirators a check to fund a renewed Panamanian revolt. In return, Bunau-Varilla would become Panama's representative in Washington. Bunai-Varilla then arranged for Amador to meet U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt carefully avoided endorsing the revolt, but told Amador that if the Panamanian separatists revolted, the US would view this as a positive development and could be counted on to act accordingly. However, he warned Amador to avoid violence, since the American people would not recognize independence gained through bloodshed. 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. These troops were under command of Generals Juan Tovar and Ramón Amaya, and were hastily assembled conscripts with little training. 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. However, word also reached Colón of the Colombian ships on their way. As the news spread of the imminent arrival of Colombian troops, many of the conspirators abandoned the cause. Fearing that if they were caught they would be executed, Amador, Arango, and other conspirators met to discuss the situation. 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. She surmised that once the officers were separated and arrested, the troops could be bribed to return home. Amador went out to convince Herbert G. Prescott, assistant superintendent, and James Shaler, superintendent of the Panama Railway to help transport the generals and once he gained their approval, he called the separatists together to get them to endorse the plan. Shaler convinced the generals to go ahead to Panama City without their troops, while the railway was gathering sufficient cars for the troops. The Tiradores Battalion arrived in the Panamanian city of Colón the morning of November 3, 1903. There, Generals Tovar and Amaya encountered Panama Railway authorities aligned with the secessionist movement, who ushered Tovar and his senior staff onto a train bound for Panama City to see Obaldía, but delayed the passage of the tiradores, leaving them leaderless. General Huertas, commander of the Colombia Battalion in Panama, eventually ordered the arrest of Tovar and his aides. Upon hearing of the arrests in Panama City, the tiradores in Colón, commanded by Col. Eliseo Torres, surrounded American troops garrisoned in the railroad yard before they were persuaded to leave Colón, under threat from USS Nashville. This is often cited as a classic example of the era of gunboat diplomacy. When the plan successfully concluded, Panama's independence was proclaimed and the Municipal Council met and confirmed the establishment of the Republic of Panama. The Colombian gunboat Bogotá fired shells upon Panama City the night of November 3, causing injuries and mortally wounding Wong Kong Yee of Hong Sang, China. He was the only casualty of independence. Demetrio H. Brid, president of the Municipal Council of Panama, became the de facto President of Panama and on November 4, 1903, appointed a Provisional Government Junta, which governed the country until February 1904 and the Constituent National Convention. The convention elected Manuel Amador Guerrero as first constitutional president. The United States quickly recognized the new nation. News of the secession of Panama from Colombia reached Bogotá only on November 6, 1903, due to a problem with the submarine cables. Reactions On November 13, 1903, the United States formally recognized the Republic of Panama (after recognizing it unofficially on November 6 and 7). On November 18, 1903, the United States Secretary of State John Hay and Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty. The mission met aboard the ship 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. Panama's independence caused Chilean authorities alarm concerning the growing influence of the United States. This made Chile put great efforts to deny a United States purchase of the Galápagos Islands or the establishment of a United States Guantanamo-like naval base there. Chilean diplomacy was backed by Germany and Britain on this issue. President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest". The New York Evening Post called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture". 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." In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty, in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia million : $5 million upon ratification, and four $5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation. Recognition of Panama as a country ==See also==