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