By Carl Savich for EuropeNews.dk - US backers of Kosovo independence have stated that the illegal secession of the Serbian province of Kosovo was a “unique” and special case. But was the “independence” of Kosovo sui generis and unique? The illegal seizure and occupation of Kosovo by the US is not unique or special. In 1903, the US engineered the illegal secession of Panama from Columbia. The Panamanian model was applied to Kosovo by the US. How did Panama achieve “independence” in 1903? In 1904, US President Theodore Roosevelt enunciated the Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which allowed the US to intervene anywhere in the Western Hemisphere to prevent intervention by European powers. In 1903, the US planned to construct the Panama Canal for strategic military and commercial reasons. Panama was a northern province of Columbia. Colombia, however, did not back the US plan to create a canal on Colombian territory that the US would occupy and have sovereignty over indefinitely. (more)

By Deanna Spingola for Renew America - (excerpt) ]Theodore Roosevelt became president after McKinley's assassination. Other presidents had long dreamed of a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. Roosevelt, a pragmatist, felt that a canal was practical, vital and indispensable to the globalist destiny of supremacy over U.S. coastal waters. The globalist goal, even then, was U.S. control of key islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific. [16] Roosevelt was a proponent of a doctrine proposed by U.S. naval officer and scholar Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914), in his 1890 book Influence of Sea Power upon History. The theory was that supremacy at sea was an integral part of commercial and military prowess. Mahan's supremacy mentality also included the Indian Ocean and islands like Diego Garcia which the U.S. currently controls. Mahan said: "whoever attains maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean (third largest in the world) would be a prominent player on the international scene." [17] (more)

SF Gate.com Isthmus greetings: A whip-snapping devil oppresses Congos, or African slaves, in the Congos y Diablo carnival ritual in Nombre de Dios, Panama. The devil represents Spanish conquerors in the rite, which dates to colonial times. (Photo: AP/Arnulfo Franco)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count). Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers. Not all Christian churches observe Ash Wednesday or Lent. They are mostly observed by the Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Anglican denominations, and also by Roman Catholics. Many Panamanians eat more seafood from now until Holy Week and Easter, with the increased demand driving up prices. Lent in Panama is called the "Cuaresma".

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By Leonardo Flores for La Prensa - Yesterday the President of Panama's National Assembly Pedro Miguel González criticized the way ex-President Guillermo Endara, elected in the 1988 election, "decided to go away to a foreign military base to administer an oath as the legitimate chief executive of the nation". In addition, he attacked those who opposed the military politically, arguing that they lacked the courage to take up arms to fight the military dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega. González is accused by the United States (EU) of the murder of Zak soldier Hernandez, in 1992, in the eve of the visit of the American president, George Bush. Yesterday, during an act to remember the 18 years of the American invasion to Panama, González said it is time for the government to decide to thoroughly investigate those who died during the invasion, and to erect a monument in their memory. "During 18 years all the political sectors have wanted to throw a mantle of forgetfulness over what happened in Panama in 1989, to never see it again, perhaps for shame or other reasons, but it is not right for all of those Panamanians who still lie in common graves." Upon being asked to comment on Gonzalez's statements, ex- president of the Republic Guillermo Endara declined to comment. This newspaper also tried unfruitfully to locate to the ex- vice-president of the Republic Guillermo Ford to know his opinion.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Today is the eighteenth anniversary of Operation Just Cause, the invasion of Panama by the United States of America. On this date every year old emotions are reignited on both sides. This year the President of Panama's National Assembly Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, who is one of the most militant members of the ruling PRD political party and under indictment in the United States for the terrorist murder of US serviceman Zak Hernandez, has proposed a bill for discussion which would require the exhumation of those killed during the invasion, among other things. Gonzalez is making a political move to stir emotions on this date, and it would be a good time to sit home and watch television. (more)

Tom Rowley for Panama-Guide.com - Often lost in all the celebrations and parades and beautiful polleras and the joy of the school kids who have a holiday and the adults who get to spend four days at the beach or in the interior, are the realities of what occurred between the Third and Fifth of November 1903. A new Republic was born, the result of the efforts of a handful of men, most of whom were employees of the Panama Railroad, and a commitment was made by the USA to protect the fledgling country and, more importantly, to construct the Isthmian Canal – a project that would dwarf any investment ever previously made by the US: over $372 million dollars including the $10 million paid to Panamá and the $40 million paid to the shareholders of the French Companie Nouevelle. (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Panama is getting ready to celebrate its 104th year as an independent republic tomorrow and Sunday with parades in Panama City. One of the things you can always count on, every year, is that it will rain on the parade. I'm not trying to me a pessimist or anything, but it rains more in November than in any other month, and every year (like clockwork) it rains like hell, right in the middle of the parade. Panamanians laugh about it and just keep right on going. The majority of the participants are schools and their bands. Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro has declared Panama City to be a no-booze zone for the weekend so all bars (and everyplace else that sells alcohol) will be closed. Panama gained its independence from Colombia on Tuesday, 3 November 1903.

Copyright 2007 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press - PHILADELPHIA -- Visitors to a new exhibit of dazzling gold artifacts and other ancient treasures have a fickle river in central Panama to thank for it. When the Rio Grande de Cocle changed course in the early 1900s, a tantalizing cache of golden beads and pottery pieces washed upon its banks. Mysterious accounts of a river flowing with gold enticed a University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology excavation team to the site in 1940. There, they uncovered the cemetery of a thriving pre-Columbian settlement previously unknown to historians and dating from approximately 700 A.D. to 900 A.D. About 150 of the most important artifacts they excavated are on display at the museum's "River of Gold" exhibit opening Sunday. (more)

By Jovanka Guardia y José Arcia for La Prensa - No body seems to want to write about Manuel Antonio Noriega. The official history books for elementary and primary schools forget about the time when the ex-strongman governed the country. The reference nearest to these times is contained in a Social Science book used in fifth grade, which says "General Omar Torrijos died in a plane accident on 31 July 1981. Other military officers followed him in power." Everything that happened from 11 October 1968, the date of the military coup that overthrew Arnulfo Arias, until 1 September 1999, the date that Mireya Moscoso took office, is condensed into one half of one page. There is not one single word about Noriega. The omission "is unjustifiable", says Edilcia Agudo, the Director of teh History Department of the University of Panama, because this absence is "terrible" for society, and the books do not form "complete citizens."

p>By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez De Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first known European to see the Pacific Ocean. From Wikiepdia - "The few men that continued the journey with Balboa entered the mountain range along the Chucunaque River the next day. According to information from the natives, the South Sea could be seen from the summit of this range. Balboa went ahead and, before noon that day, September 25, he reached the summit and saw, far away in the horizon, the waters of the undiscovered sea. The emotions were such that the others eagerly joined in to show their joy at Balboa's discovery. Andrés de Vera, the expedition's chaplain, intoned the Te Deum, while the men erected stone pyramids, and engraved crosses on the barks of trees with their swords, to mark the place where the discovery of the South Sea was made."

Panama City, Panama (PRWEB) September 22, 2007 -- Ten years ago this month Panama City's three hundred year old historic district, Casco Antiguo, was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). At the time, few imagined the impending boom that would so radically change the surrounding city skyline. Today, with tower cranes crowding the nearby shores, residents of the historic district shudder to think what might have happened had their beloved 100 acre peninsula not been protected. "In 1994 a developer tried to build a high rise on the best site in the neighborhood," says long time resident and architect, Sebastian Paniza. "Imagine what would have happened by now." (more)

By Lynne Belluscio - We have just received notification that New York State has accepted our nomination for the Marion Steam Shovel on Gulf Road to become a State Historic Landmark and it will be nominated for national designation. It represents the industrial technology that was developed at the end of the 19th Century. When I wrote the nomination I included a history of the development of the steam shovel, the history of the General Crushed Stone Company and the story of the limestone quarries in Le Roy. It is very unusual that the review panel accepts nominations for equipment like Le Roy's Marion Shovel. But I am now faced with a greater challenge. The panel would like additional information that would prove that the shovel was indeed a shovel from the Panama Canal. That's going to be tough. (more)

By JOANN LOVIGLIO for the Associated Press - PHILADELPHIA - Visitors to a new exhibit of dazzling gold artifacts and other ancient treasures have a fickle river in central Panama to thank for it. When the Rio Grande de Cocle changed course in the early 1900s, a tantalizing cache of golden beads and pottery pieces washed upon its banks. Mysterious accounts of a river flowing with gold enticed a University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology excavation team to the site in 1940. There, they uncovered the cemetery of a thriving pre-Columbian settlement previously unknown to historians and dating from approximately 700 A.D. to 900 A.D. About 150 of the most important artifacts they excavated are on display at the museum's "River of Gold" exhibit opening Sunday. (more)

SALT LAKE CITY & PANAMA CITY, Panama--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), a non-profit scientific organization developing the world's largest online repository of correlated genetic and family history information, today announced that it has commenced a major DNA collection and research initiative in Panama. The project, performed in partnership with the Gorgas Memorial Institute (Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud Panama), will collect approximately 1,500-2,000 DNA samples and related multi-generation pedigree charts - including 100 to 200 representative samples from individuals in each of the country's nine provinces and three territories, from urban areas to rain forests, and from all major ethnic populations. (more)

Note The Date: This article was published in La Prensa on 28 July 1992. The Chief of Panama's Judicial Technical Police (PTJ) Jaime Abad said yesterday in Colón that the persons who killed North American soldier Zak Hernandez, 22 years-old, and who caused serious injuries to his companion Ronald Marshall, were Pedro Miguel Gonzalez and Roberto Garrido, who are at the moment fugitives from justice. Hernandez and Marshall, who were traveling in a military vehicle along the Transístmica highway, were machine-gunned near (an area called) "El Veinte" (The Twenty) in Chilibre by men driving in a red Toyota Starlet, who have been identified as González and Garrido. (more)

By Tom Avril - Inquirer Staff Writer - Standing at the edge of an ancient Panamanian burial pit, J. Alden Mason surveyed the dazzling array of gold before him. He had excavated hundreds of pendants, plaques and other ornaments, adorned with fantastic images of tropical creatures. It was a problem. He would need days to record the artifacts properly and pack them up for the steamship voyage back to Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania scholar realized. In the meantime, someone needed to spend nights down in the pit, in case word of the gold spread to unfriendly ears. (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Today is a national holiday in Panama. While most businesses are open, government offices and schools are closed to celebrate the Founding of Panama City, the first Spanish settlement on the Pacific Ocean 488 years ago today. The site of Panama Viejo was later abandoned after the city was sacked and burned by Sir Henry Morgan and a force of some 1,400 privateers. Today tourists can visit the ruins of Panama Viejo (Old Panama) and stroll among the remains of the churches, monastery, and buildings of the city the Spanish founded in 1519 and which stood on the location for 152 years as original location of Panama City.

Looking Back: 11 May 2007 - 505 years since the 4th and last voyage of Christopher Columbus from Cádiz, Spain (1502) with four ships -- Capitana, Gallega, Vizcaína and Santiago de Palos -- searching for the Strait of Malacca, a passage to the Spice Islands. The voyage was beset with problems, including a hurricane, attack by natives, mutiny, and sinking ships that resulted in the marooning of Columbus and his crew for a year. They visited, sailed along, and/or explored Martinique (15 June), Hispaniola (29 June, and again later), Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (establishing a trading post/garrison at Santa María de Belén in the Veraguas region, to look for gold mines), and Jamaica (where they were marooned). Columbus sighted the Cayman Islands, which he called Las Tortugas for the sea turtles there. He and the crew finally returned to Sanlúcar, Spain, in November 1504 after a ship came to pick them up. A book about the voyage was written by Martin Dugard, titled The Last Voyage of Columbus: Being the Epic Tale of the Great Captain's Fourth Expedition, Including Accounts of Swordfight, Mutiny, Shipwreck, Gold, War, Hurricane and Discovery: "The final voyage of Christopher Columbus was by far his most dangerous, unexpected, exhilarating, and consequential." [Some sources say he left Cadiz on 9 May.] Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica: Christopher Columbus: The fourth voyage and final years / The Fourth Voyage of Columbus / Wikipedia: Columbus's Fourth Voyage / Catholic Encyclopedia: Christopher Columbus / Powells Books

By Mike Power for TheFirstPost.co.uk - It was a ruinous central American adventure that forced the Scots to sign the Act of Union, writes mike power. With the Scottish National Party holding a seven per cent lead over Labour ahead of the May 3 parliamentary elections, many Scots see the polls as a chance to re-assert the country's independence. The elections will take place two days after the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union that politically united Scotland and England. But few people know that Scotland was forced by economic necessity to sign that Act following a ruinous attempt to establish a trading colony at Darien in the inhospitable jungles of Panama. The decision to set up a Scottish colony in the tropics was driven by domestic economic crisis. At the end of the 17th Century, Scotland was weary after years of war and famine, its trade damaged by England's wars with Europe. (more)

terradaily.com - Sab Diego CA (SPX) Mar 14, 2007 - Smithsonian scientists and colleagues report a new study that may shake up the way paleontologists think about how environmental change shapes life on Earth. The researchers summarized the environmental, ecological and evolutionary consequences for Caribbean shallow-water marine communities when the Isthmus of Panama was formed. They concluded that extinctions resulting when one ocean became two were delayed by 2 million years. Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and London's Natural History Museum report their study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on March 12. Three to 4 million years ago, the Isthmus of Panama land bridge rose to connect North and South America, and divided one vast ocean into two. In response, a major extinction of marine animals that had flourished under open seaway conditions occurred on the Caribbean side of the new Isthmus.

(Source) - The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, with some qualifications; however, the Government generally respects this right in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion. The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom. The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights. Section I. Religious Demography. The country has a total area of 30,193 square miles, and its population is approximately 2.9 million. According to a 1998 nationwide survey conducted by the Comptroller General's Office of Statistics and Census, 82 percent of the population identify themselves as Roman Catholic, 10 percent as evangelicals, and 3 percent as unaffiliated with any religious group. There are also small but statistically identifiable congregations--approximately 34,000--of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Seventh-day Adventists, members of Jehovah's Witnesses, Episcopalians (approximately 9,000 members), and other Christians. Many recent Chinese immigrants still practice Buddhism. The country has small but influential Jewish (approximately 10,000 members) and Muslim (approximately 5,000 adherents) communities, and is home to 1 of the world's 7 Baha'i Houses of Worship.