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General
Information
Panama, officially
the Republic of Panama
is the southernmost country of Central America.
A transcontinental country, its isthmus constitutes the southernmost part of a
natural land bridge between the continents of North America and South America. It borders Costa
Rica to the northwest, Colombia
to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Pacific
Ocean to the south.
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History:
Much
of Panama's domestic
politics and international diplomacy in the twentieth century was tied to the
Panama Canal and the foreign policy of the United States. At the turn of the
twentieth century, Theodore Roosevelt pursued United
States diplomatic efforts to facilitate a deal with Colombia that
would allow it to take over French canal operations started by Ferdinand de
Lesseps. In November 1903, the United States
supported a covert Separatist Junta consisting of a small number of wealthy
Panamanian landowners and led by Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero to secede from Colombia.
On
3 November, 1903, Panama
declared its independence from Colombia.
The President of the Municipal Council, Demetrio H. Brid,
highest authority at the time, became its de facto President, appointing a
Provisional Government on November 4 to run the affairs of the new republic.
The United States, as the
first country to recognize the new Republic
of Panama, sent troops to
protect its economic interests. The 1904 Constituent Assembly elected Dr.
Manuel Amador Guerrero, a prominent member of the Conservative political party,
as the first constitutional President of the Republic of Panama.
In
December 1903, representatives of the republic signed the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty which
granted rights to the United States
to build and administer indefinitely the Panama Canal,
which was opened in 1914. This treaty became a contentious diplomatic issue
between the two countries, reaching a boiling point on Martyr's Day (9 January
1964). The issues were resolved with the signing of the Torrijos-Carter
Treaties in 1977.
The
original intent of the founding fathers was to bring harmony between the two major
political parties (Conservatives and Liberals). The Panamanian government went
through periods of political instability and corruption, however, and at
various times in its history, the mandate of an elected president terminated
prematurely. In 1968, a coup toppled the government of the recently elected Arnulfo Arias Madrid. General Omar Torrijos
eventually became the leading power in the governing military junta, and later
became an autocratic strong man until his death in an apparent airplane accident
in 1981. After Torrijos's death, power was eventually
concentrated in the hands of General Manuel Noriega, a former head of Panama's secret
police and an ex-member of the CIA. Noriega was implicated in drug trafficking
by the United States,
resulting in difficult relations by the end of the 1980s.
On
December 20, 1989, twenty-five thousand US
personnel[citation needed] invaded Panama in order to remove Noriega.
A few hours after the invasion, in a ceremony that took place inside a U.S. military base in the former Panama Canal
Zone, Guillermo Endara (winner of the May 1989
elections) was sworn in as the new president of Panama. The invasion occurred ten
years before the Panama Canal administration
was to be turned over to Panamanian control, according to the timetable set up
by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. After the invasion,
Noriega sought asylum in the Vatican
diplomatic mission represented by Monsignor Jose S. Laboa.
To induce Noriega's surrender, US forces played loud
music outside the embassy. After a few days, Noriega surrendered to the
American military, and was taken to Florida to
be formally arrested and charged by U.S. federal authorities. He will
be eligible for parole in 2007.
Under
the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the United States returned all canal-related lands
to Panama
on December 31, 1999, but reserves the right to military intervention in the
interest of its national security. Panama also gained control of
canal-related buildings and infrastructure as well as full administration of
the canal.
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Infrastructure
Highways
total: 11,258 km
paved: 3,783 km (including 30 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 7,475 km (1999 est.)
Waterways
800
km navigable by shallow draft vessels; 82 km Panama Canal
Ports and harbors
Atlantic
Ocean: Manzanillo
(part of Colon
area), Coco Solo
Pacific Ocean: Balboa
Other:
Cristobal, Vacamonte
Embassies and Consulates:
Alemania
Brasil
Canadá
Chile
China
(República, Taiwan)
Colombia
Estados
Unidos de América EE.UU.
Francia
India
Italia
Japón
México
Polonia
Taiwan
USA
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Universities
(most of information in Spanish)
Universidad de Panamá //www.up.ac.pa/
Universidad
Latina de Panamá http://www.ulat.ac.pa/
Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología, Panamá URL: http://www.ulacit.ac.pa/
Universidad
Santa María La Antigua : http://www.usma.ac.pa/
Universidad
Tecnológica de Panamá http://www.utp.ac.pa/
Government Agencies
(Most of the
information is in Spanish)
ANAM: Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente: www.anam.gob.pa
Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Públicos: www.enteregulador.gob.pa
CIHC: Comisión Interinstitucional de la Cuenca
Hidrográfica del Canal de Panamá.
www.cich.org
Hidrometeorología (Gerencia de Hidrometeorología
de ETESA) www.hidromet.com.pa
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Geographic Information
Other sources of geographic
information
http://209.15.138.224/inmopanama/panamas.htm
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Media Outlets
Government
Panama's politics takes place in a framework
of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of
Panama is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised
by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the
National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the
legislature.
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