ross the isthmus . . . to suppress the insurrection" (p. 23). At this birth of the Republic of Panama, President Theodore Roosevelt "proudly claimed the role of midwife . . ." (p. 3).
In New York City, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, who had not been in Panama for 17 years, and who never again returned to the country, acted as Panamanian representative in negotiations with the U.S. for the Isthmian Canal Convention. In the process, he wrote the Panamanian declaration of independence, and the Panamanian constitution, and designed the Panamanian flag while residing at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel (Meditz & Hanratty, 1989). Bunau-Varilla and the Americans concluded their work quickly, "to preclude any objections an arriving Panamanian delegation might raise" (p. 23).
The provisions of the treaty were offensive to most Panamanians in 1903, and they remain offensive to most Panamanians in 1990. The provisions granted to the U.S. "in perpetuity . . . the use, occupation, and control" of a 16 kilometer wide strip across the isthmus, a
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