Pp .
anama is a small country,

ee in half by a _nine-mile
tia ch of land under U.S. con-
ning one of the
Ways i epee important water-
istory e Panama canal. Its
what 4, how it got there, and
eink means to the people of
the fon today is set out in
ati Owing abridged Prensa
na feature.

® 1513—conque i
st of
by Balboa Gen). of isthmus
ost aoe —isthmus of Panama
Dain, independence from
e €comes part of republic
eae Ombia. U.S. becomes in-

ted j NS eae .
Rilte MM building interoceanic

e 184,

latino. 6—Colombia signs Mal-

Ss pealack treaty, giving
transit vulges of navigation and
e] . :

Colony tailroad built between
‘ihe «2d Panama City, stretch-

ee isthmus.
Colombia New Granada (as

Saloan ys “2S Called then) signs
constrwise treaty giving canal
one 10n rights to French
Iggy. CONStruction begins in
bi aitider de Lessops, who
iter 2 Canal. Only 20 miles
NY. aba: ug before French com-
of fing ons project for lack
_ threatens Col-
Signs Herran-Hay
Vere ae treaty terms so se-
reuse Olombian Congress
Ust jp ° @Pprove it on Aug-

| British Tor

Brita;,
ol itain’s . 4
®Aded" the: university students
p stg 33 Nationwide one-day
titish tke last week while
Me-day Soh ers announced a
vee : € of their own for
er :
were Boing kes and protests
weet oe ON across Britain, by
wi : ae hospital workers,
Orke a Workers and gas
a ae “work to rule”
q toad oh ‘ings followed by
r.
| i : - Bey et s sip announc-
i aire’ Vii tion member British
3 British | Ongress, the over-
vided 10 ane Organization, de-
"DPOrt. th Upon all workers to
talte oneds unions on strike.
“any Weeks Y Strikes in the past
‘ are British labor’s
b Wa € Tory govern-
ta i freeze policy, which
Pog Dricg Feases while soarin
~ : 1,000 are unrestricted, :
he sty cate to London
ihe 500 “i Strike was called
On of St “member National
mune: which is un-
stri ut leadership, Dur-
oR oout 1,000 NUS
to Lopeee a the university
mn 0 country,
Snt ou lemand of Parlia:
Suge O" the rt $160 a year
e grant fe maximum
1,100 a year.
< aly indicated that
Wage Zed Inorg retnized with
mands for

at the uni
On sty ons

affic

ate ineq Shar roUshout Britain
Bieg In the London

Railroay Were jammed.
: at neineers’ Union
the has a another one-day
ail Strike Called and that
es” will continue

e 1903—backed by U.S. and
French company, Panama pro-
claims independence from Col-
ombia Nov. 3.

e 1903—Hay-Buneau Varilla
treaty signed Nov. 18, giving the
U.S. “in perpetuity, the use, oc-
cupation and control of a zone
of land (nine miles wide) for the
constructioh, maintenance, func-.,
tioning, sanitizing and protec-
tion of a canal.’ Construction
begins.

e 1914 — the ship Ancon
makes first trip through 50 mile
long canal (it was not officially
inaugurated until 1920).

e 1927—Panamanian National
Assembly refuses to ratify new
treaty. ;

e 1936—general treaty signed
between U.S. and Panama.
Panamanian sovereignty men-
tioned for first time. ‘

e 1958— “Operation Sover-
eighty”; 75 Panamanian flags
placed throughout Canal Zone.
Operation repeated in 1959, this
time with a toll of 100 wounded.

e 1964—clashes between U.S.
occupation troops and unarmed
people. Twenty-two Panama-
nians killed and over 500 wound-
ed. President Roberto Chiari
forced to suspend relations with
U.S. and denounce massacre in
the UN and Organization of
American States.

e 1967—bilateral commission
recommends simultaneous sign-
ing of three treaties which would
grant U.S. right to build new

oth ies rocked
Y more protest strikes

until the Tory government
grants the $23 wage raise they
are demanding.

May Strike Palace

The staff at Buckingham Pal-
ace may also join the strike
movement. These employees are
members of the Civil Service
Union, and declared they will
strike if the Tories turn down
their demand for an interim
wage raise.

More than 150,000 gas work-
ers are continuing their protest
actions and strikes which began
a month ago. Thousands of Brit-
ish shops and factories have
closed down because of the lack
of gas supplies.

About 220,000 hospital work-
ers, on strike for a month, got a
boost when the British press
published a “confidential” report
of the Department of Employ-
ment to the Tory government of
Prime Minister Edward Heath
warning that Britain’s entire Na-
tional Health Service would col-
lapse if something were not done
to deal with the “unrest” among
“low-paid hospital workers.”

Strikes Spread ;

More than 6,000 dock workers
in Liverpool went on strike last
week, halting the unloading of
55 vessels.

Thousands of Welsh, English
and Scottish steel workers algo
went on strike Several thou-
sand Welsh steel workers from
Ebbow Vale went to London to
protest to Parliament against the

state-owned British Steel Cor-

poration’s decision to shut down
their plant. The steel workers
were attacked by police in front
of BSC headquarters in London,
where they were assembled

while a workers’ delegation talk-
ed to the bosses inside.

—Daily World

canal and maintain status quo in
military situation of Canal Zone.
e 1968— military movement
which later brought General
Omar Torrijos to power. Rela-
tions between U.S. and Panama
changed.

BS

According to the present for-
eign relations minister of Pana-
ma, Juan Antonio Tack, the
three treaty proposals of 1967
“are not utilizable even as a
basis for future negotiations.”

On August 5, 1970 the Pana-
manian government rejected the
proposed treaties because “they
do not contribute to the aim of
procuring the speedy elimina-
tion of the causes of conflict.”

According to documents pub-
lished between 1970 and 1972
by the Foreign Relations Minis-
try of Panama, there are “seven
principal causes of the conflict
which has its origin in the trea-
ties today in force between the
United States and Panama,”
treaties which Panama is de-
manding be substantially modi-
fied. In brief, the Panamanian
position is as follows:

1) Perpetuity. A new treaty
must eliminate the perpetuity
clause and extend the adminis-
tration of the Canal by the U.S.
for no more than 22 years. This
administration must terminate
on December 31, 1994.

2) Jurisdiction. In the Canal
Zone the United States exercis-
es administration of justice,
police forces, industrial and
commercial activities, ° public
services, tax collecting, etc. The
United States says that it will
return these prerogatives to
Panama after transitional per-
iods, some of; which extend up
to 15 years. Panama ;says. that
the functioning, maintenance
and protection of the Canal “do
not require the exercicze of juris-
diction on the part of a State
other than the sovereign state.”

3.) Works. The treaty of 1936
abolished the term “construc-
tion.’ However, the United
States “without consulting or
informing Panama, continued to
build works of great dimensions
which have no relation to the
maintenance, functioning and
protection of the Canal.”

4) Protection. The treaty of
1903 gave the United States the
right to protect the Canal, limit-

ing it “to the use of its police
and land and naval forces and
to establish fortifications.” ‘The
U.S. government,” says the Pan-
amanian Foreign Relations min-
istry, “without consulting or in-
forming Panama has built large
military, naval’ and air instal-
lations within the Canal Zone
which have no relation to the
security and protection of the
Canal.” Therefore, Panama is
demanding that the U.S. re-
move the Southern Command
bases from its territory.

5) Rental. In the beginning
the rental fee was 250,000
dollars a year; in 1957 the fee
increased to 1,930,000 dollars, a
figure which was rejected by
Township Assembly in 1972. The
treaty of 1955 forced Panama to
grant a 75 percent tax reduction
on imports to the Zone, by
which the country lost more
than 1.5 million dollars. It is
estimated that between 1915
and 1970 the Canal earned
22,000 million dollars, of which
Panama received 44 million, or
0.2 percent. Panama aspires to
a participation similar to that
of the United States.

6) Indirect benefits. Because

of the Canal, Panama lost its
ports in the capital and Colon.
Therefore it cannot develop pro-
ductive activities. It also has a
foreign competitor in industry
and commerce. Panama is de-
manding that Panamanians oc-
cupy 85 percent of Canal Zone
jobs and receive 85 percent of
wages and social benefits.

7) Interpretation of treaties.
This is, according to the foreign
relations ministry, “a constant
cause of conflict because of the
invariable position of the Unit-
ed States in interpreting exist-
ing treaties according to its own
convenience and imposing its ar-
bitrary and unjust interpreta-
tions by use of its power.”

Panama also wants total neu-

tralization of the Canal and its
shores on which there will be
no military activities not stric-

tly needed for the protection of .

the Canal.

“The struggle of Panama,”
said Foreign Minister Tack, “is
more profound than the simple
attainment of economic advan-
tages: Panama wants to eradi-
cate a colonial situation that
was imposed on it and that still
exists.”

U.S. uses veto to
keep canal control

PANAMA — The United Na-
tions security council has com-
pleted its deliberations here
with a U.S. veto killing a reso-
lution that would eventually
give Panama full control over
the Canal Zone. The 1903 treaty
between Panama and.-the U.S.
gave the U.S. control “in per-
petuity” over the area.

Thirteen other members of the
council, including the Soviet
Union, China and France, voted
for the resolution which would
end 70 years of U.S. control of
the waterway.

Speaking at the session, Pana-
manian UN chancellor Aquili-
no Boyd accused the U.S. of en-
dangering the peace and secur-
ity of the entire Latin American
continent in illicity occupying
and transforming the Canal
Zone into a military base. Pan-
ama, he stated, has the right to

reclaim sovereignty over all its
territory, to demand the dis-
mantling of U.S. military bases,
and to nationalize the Canal
Zone.

Gen. Torrijos, the new pres-

ident of Panama, in countering

the U.S. argument that Panama
derives considerable financial
benefit from U.S. occupation
and exploitation of the Canal
Zone, stated that, “These (U.S.)
tunes are not in the interests of
the development of Panama, but
to its continued maintenance
under U.S. control. Panama,” he
declared, “will no longer be a
star in the U.S. heavens...
Colonialism is the prison of free
men.”

Panama has stated that it will
bring the same resolution be-
fore the UN general assembly,
where the U.S. has no resource
to a veto.

Pan

ama is challenging the U.S. control of the canal and is demanding a new treaty dealing with the

"s jurisdicti tection and rental.
canal’s jurisdiction, pro I ee ee ee