In recent times, Panama is a country that is very current for reasons that are well known in Spain. But that is not the goal of this post. Long before the so-called "Panama papers" came to light, the country was especially known for its canal, which facilitates passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans without the need to navigate thousands of miles and cross the dangerous Cape of Ovens.
The construction of the canal once confronted France and the United States. Both countries knew that whoever dominated the trade between the two great oceans would dominate the world. The Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps had gained world fame for his construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt and thought that he could carry out similar work in Panama. But he did not count on the very different orographic and climatological conditions that he would find in Panama and that had nothing to do with those of Egypt. In America, they did not face a desert of sand at sea level, but rather pure rock that rose up to a hundred meters in altitude, mighty rivers that crossed the route and overflowed during the rainy season, and millions of mosquitoes that transmitted yellow fever to all those who dared to try to work in the area.
Initially, Lesseps managed to deceive public opinion and those responsible for making the decision about the route that the canal should follow and prevailed over the US proposal, which was more studied and knowledgeable about the circumstances in Panama, which proposed a route for the canal through from Nicaragua.
After being awarded the project, Lesseps had to convince thousands of French citizens to invest in company shares because the French government refused to finance the works. Lesseps even bribed major French newspapers to publish articles highlighting the feasibility of his project. But the death of thousands of workers due to yellow fever, earthquakes and floods that paralyzed the works ended up bringing the truth to light. Lesseps' project was unfeasible and his investors were bankrupt. The matter ended in a well-known trial for fraud that ended with Lesseps' son in jail and with him getting rid only because of his advanced age. It was an unhappy end for the great architect of the Suez Canal.
But among the investors affected by the scam was a man who was not about to give up. The engineer Philipe-Jean Bunau Varilla had no intention that his money and his effort as the person in charge of the canal works would go unrewarded. And he thought of a way to recover his investment:to convince the US government and its President Teddy Roosevelt to take up the project of building the great work and claim the role of a great world power that they did not yet have.
For this Bunau Varilla had the enthusiastic support of President Roosevelt, to whom the necessary investment seemed ridiculous compared to the gains in territory, infrastructure and influence that it would entail. But the decision did not depend on Roosevelt, but on the United States Congress, which did not look favorably on the number of deaths and incidents that occurred in Panama and was more in favor of resuming its old idea of undertaking the canal works through Nicaragua. . This would mean that the United States would not buy the shares of the French engineer's company.
Bunau Varilla saw his investment in danger as the date for the vote in the US Congress on whether the canal would be built in Panama or Nicaragua approached in 1902. Suddenly a piece of news hit the world media:the Nicaraguan volcano of Momotombo had erupted causing serious damage. The astute French engineer realized that the official Nicaraguan postage stamp depicted an erupting volcano and sent a reproduction of it to every US congressman and media outlet with a note asking if the US was willing to take the risk of building his canal in a place threatened by volcanic eruptions like Nicaragua.
Bunau Varilla's tactic had an effect and Congress approved that the construction of the canal be carried out in Panama. The French recovered his investment, but the project still had to face numerous difficulties, including a revolution, until the Panama Canal was inaugurated on January 7, 1914... but that's another story.