The Fight Over the Panama Canal by Cristela Guerra
This story began with an image, a 4-year-old Cristela Guerra, pictured above right, next to a U.S. soldier during one of the most traumatic times in her nation’s existence: The U.S. invasion of Panama. In the fall of 2023, Cristela spent a year at Harvard University researching Panama’s history and the tangled web that ties her home country’s sovereignty to the United States. As a journalist, she wanted to study that which was closest, the lived experiences that shaped her.
This time gave Cristela a better understanding of where her country had come from, which explains where Panamanians are today. President Donald Trump’s imperial rhetoric isn’t new. It hails back to the first treaty that allowed the United States access to the land and contracts to build the Panama Canal, which was not translated into Spanish and did not have any Panamanian representation to negotiate. President Theodore Roosevelt at the time was known to have said, “I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate.”
When Cristela was 14-years-old, she watched the Panama Canal be returned to Panamanian control on Dec. 31, 1999. It seemed like the whole nation rushed down to the Canal Zone and celebrated. Panamanians saw this as a new beginning, as an opportunity to reclaim a part of themselves that a foreign flag had divided and pierced. The motto of the canal remains, “Pro Mundi Beneficio,” which in Latin means” For the Benefit of the World.” Now, as Cristela turns 40, she sees the latest evolution.
Today, Panama is in the news again, detaining and transporting asylum seekers from the United States, according to the New York Times. The story notes that Panama remains under intense scrutiny and pressure as Trump threatens to seize the canal. In Panama, people thought the era of foreign intrusion was over. This episode is rooted in Cristela’s family history, bearing witness to the constant, often violent collisions between the country they live in and the country of their birth. When you have some time, listen to Cristela’s amazing story of her experiences below. Telly at NewsroomPanama.com
