We republish below an unofficial translation of the following article from the New Democratic Colombian newspaper Nueva Democracia, originally posted on February 24, 2025.
The ultra-reactionary and tycoon Donald Trump made a few days ago some statements that could mark the imperial “agenda” during his Republican mandate. He has referred to several nations in very threatening and aggressive terms, going so far as to assure that he would not rule out the use of military or economic coercion to take control of Greenland or the Panama Canal. Such statements have generated controversy and the rejection of the aggrieved peoples who have begun to ridicule the threats of the eccentric tycoon.
Protests and demonstrations took place in the streets of the Panamanian capital in such an intense manner that the pro-Yankee Panamanian government had to resort to the use of riot police and repression to curb the force of the anti-imperialist and anti-Yankee demonstration of the Panamanian people.
In Denmark, an online petition was recently launched to demonstrate the Danes’ “intention” to buy California from the Americans, in response to their statements and threats about taking control of Greenland. The initiative has already reached 200,000 signatures.
Although the dispute seems to have been settled, so far, in the diplomatic arena and with tariff threats, it has not always been that way. The Panamanian people have suffered in the past the brutal and bloody military boot of the Americans on their homeland. Therefore, with their rebellion in the streets, the people are showing Yankee imperialism that they have not forgotten the crimes they committed.
Not only Panama, but many other countries in Latin America have suffered the blatant Yankee invasion: among them Mexico, its first victim, between 1846 and 1848 the gringos waged war against that country, Mexico losing territory in Texas and California. In 1854 the gringo navy bombed and destroyed the Nicaraguan port of San Juan del Norte. A year later it invaded the country and installed a puppet president. In 1898 the gringos carried out the invasion against Puerto Rico and Cuba, then Spanish colonies. Even today, Puerto Rico remains a gringo colony.
In 1903 the time came for the aggression against Colombia, the gringos took advantage of the chaos and weakness of the Colombian ruling classes, who were in civil war. After independence from the Spanish yoke, the Colombian nation in formation suffered a series of civil wars that extended throughout the 19th century and deeply marked the history of the country. There are at least 13 civil wars in the 19th century, most of them national in scope. Ignacio Torres Giraldo argues that the cause of the civil wars was the attempt to erect a bourgeois and liberal superstructure on a feudal and slave-owning social base inherited from the colony. Independence from the Spanish crown was not accompanied by a democratic revolution, as was the case in France and England. Once liberated, the colonies did not destroy or democratize the land of the old feudal and slave-owning system built by the Spanish. The Creoles took possession of the land and the feudal State, and slowly introduced changes in the economic and political spheres while the influence of global capitalism penetrated our society, transforming it into a semi-feudal one. This is the economic basis of the civil wars of the 19th century in Colombia.
Panama and Colombia are brother nations who have carried the same chains and struggles. However, the strategic value of the Isthmus of Panama was too important for countries that were already entering their imperialist and monopolistic phase, such as France and the United States. These countries used their economic, political and military capacity to gain control of the isthmus and begin the construction of the Panama Canal.
One problem in the construction of the Panama Canal was the political instability of Colombia and its wars, which constantly threatened the tranquility and peace required by the business of foreign powers. For this reason, the powers repeatedly promoted the separation of the Isthmus of Panama from Colombia. There are at least 17 attempts at separation and 4 declared separations with a later return to Colombia.
Beginning in the 20th century, the gringos promoted among the political elites of Panama the idea of declaring its independence from Colombia. The US mobilized warships and threatened Colombia with armed confrontation if it dared to oppose Panamanian independence. This chapter in Colombian history is known as the “theft of Panama.” The political elites of the new country sold their souls to the devil, and in exchange for US support for Panamanian independence, they handed over to Yankee imperialism, with the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty, the rights to build and exploit the Panama Canal in perpetuity.
Then, in 1908 and 1918, the US invaded Panama when the results of the presidential elections were adverse to its interests. From then on, Nicaragua was added to the list in 1912, Haiti in 1915, Honduras in 1924, the Dominican Republic in 1965, Guatemala in 1966 and Granada in 1986. In addition to the direct military interventions or boots on the ground by the Yankees in Latin American and Caribbean countries, the gringos have supported and financed several coups d’état in Latin America. All of the above to guarantee the domination and plundering of our people and our natural resources.
During the course of the 20th century, Yankee imperialism invaded Panama four more times. The 1989 invasion was especially brutal since the Yankees committed war crimes in front of the cameras of journalists and the entire world. George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion of Panama under the pretext of arresting General Manuel Antonio Noriega and had no qualms about ordering the bombing of “El Chorrillo,” a popular neighborhood in Panama City, which left at least 3,000 Panamanians dead.
The conditions of exploitation of the canal were modified with the Torrijos-Carter Treaty in 1977, through which the Panama Canal formally became the property of Panama. This is what Trump blatantly refers to when he says that the US “gave” the canal to Panama, but there was no gift, since in practice, the canal is still dominated mainly by the US. Trump’s recent statements are a way of marking territory, of reminding the world that the canal belongs to Yankee imperialism, and that they will not hesitate to use weapons to perpetuate the domination and exploitation of it. In addition, these statements are due to the struggle between Yankee imperialism and Chinese social-imperialism, since Chinese companies have control of important ports near the Panama Canal.
This has been the brutal Yankee domination over the brotherly Panamanian people, who have demonstrated in the past protests that they do not forget their history, and have expressed total rejection and anti-imperialist willingness to fight against the statements of the bizarre and arch-reactionary Donald Trump. In their struggle, the Panamanian people are not alone, and have the support and solidarity of the peoples of the world.
Finally, we share the following link to a video, where you can go deeper and learn in greater detail about the invasion of Panama in 1989 by Yankee imperialism.
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