At dawn on 3 August 1492, thanks to the support of the Crown of Spain, the Genoese Christopher Columbus began the journey by sea that led to the discovery of a new continent and changed the course of world history. It was in 1502, during his last and fourth voyage, that Columbus traveled the coasts of Central America, arrived in Honduras and, according to some historians, landed in the Isthmus of Panama. Since then the passage through the Isthmus has characterized the history of Panama.
Upon their arrival in the Isthmus of Panama, the Spanish found a territory fairly populated by Indian-American groups. These include the Kuna population that during the seventeenth century fought against the Spanish colonial expansion but that was finally decimated.
It was Governor Pedrarias Dávila who arranged the creation of a city (the future Panamá) on the shores of the new sea as a base for further discovery. Panama was founded in 1519.
Opposing the political-commercial monopoly of Spain and Portugal, the other European powers began to resort to pirates to plunder overseas ships and colonies. The first land invasion was carried out by the English Francis Drake with the assault on the town of Nombre de Dios. The attacks followed in the following years.
Following a treaty between Spain and England, English pirates were eventually outlawed. The pirate Morgan began at this point to plan the assault of the most coveted city on the coast: Panama. After a nine-day walk, at dawn on 18 January 1671, Morgan and his men entered the capital, unexpectedly attacking from the mainland. Despite the numerical inferiority the pirates got the better. The victory was followed by a month of looting and torture to the detriment of the local population.
The city of Panama, shortly after the looting, was moved to an area considered safer (today Casco Viejo) and protected by a high wall.
In 1821, Panama declared its independence from Spain and became a province of Gran Colombia. During the 1840s there were claims of independence soon suppressed by Colombia. On a commercial level, Cape Horn began to be used and Panama suffered a serious economic crisis that lasted until 1855, when the railway line crossing the Isthmus from the Pacific to the Atlantic was inaugurated. In 1863, the new Colombian Constitution recognized each province’s independence but in 1866 Colombia regained control over Panama.
Taking advantage of the North American hesitation, the French began a series of negotiations with the Colombian government and, bolstered by the success they had achieved with the Suez Canal, quickly reached an agreement to build an interoceanic canal. The concession would have lasted one hundred years and entrusting to the French both the construction of the Channel and its administration. In 1875 the Universal Company of the Interoceanic Canal was founded, chaired by the engineer Ferdinand de Lasseps, the same who had realized the Suez Canal project. But the economic and logistical difficulties were enormous and the costs very high: colossal investments were made equal to more than four million dollars of the time. The first major obstacle was the mountain (now Gaillard cut). Lesseps, convinced that the Gaillard Cut was the biggest obstacle, contacted Eng. Eiffel to modify the lock project, but it was too late. Numerous human losses due to tropical diseases and lack of sanitation, the oppressive wet heat and the poor management of the Company’s funds, led to the construction of the works. Nine years after the works began, after having excavated 54,635,329 cubic meters of land and with 22,000 dead, the French left Panama.
The failure of the French project and the company of engineer Ferdinand de Lasseps caused a serious crisis in Panama. In 1899, the Thousand Day War broke out. The arms needed for the work were recruited by both armies and the whole territory turned into a great battlefield with crops destroyed and most of the food destined for the troops.
The United States decided to resume construction of the Canal and signed, in 1903, the Herrán-Hay Agreement with Colombia, of which Panama was still a part. Colombia soon changed its mind, however, and this raised not only the anger of the Americans but also of the Panamanians who felt excluded from any negotiations that affected them. All this formed anxieties of rebellion in Panama that led, on November 3, 1903, to the proclamation of independence. In 1904 the first Constitution was issued. In 1904, Americans resumed work on the construction of the Canal which was officially inaugurated in August 1914. The priority, at the beginning of the work, was to make Panama a healthy place. An obstacle that seemed insurmountable was the excavation of the Culebra cut, here the Americans dug 80,278,327.5 cubic meters of land that were transported with wagons of the French railway and then used in the construction of the barriers.
When in 1912 Belisario Porras became President of the Republic, he adopted a policy of modernization that bequeathed to the successive Presidents a heavily indebted country. In 1931, a nationalist group, led by Arnulfo Arias came to power and in 1932 Harmodio Arias was elected, who proceeded to a drastic cut in expenses (with the so-called Iron Law). From the 1936 elections Arosemena emerged but in an atmosphere of uprisings and widespread tension. For this reason, the elections of 1940, the year in which the National Civic Guard was created, saw the presence of only one candidate: Arnulfo Arias.
From the late 1950s, relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly strained and eventually, in 1964, diplomatic relations were interrupted for a short time.
Arnulfo Arias won the election in May 1968, but in October 1968 a military coup led by General Omar Torrijos prevented him from ruling. The government promised to hold democratic elections but suspended civil rights. In October 1972, the General received full powers for six years. Torrijos remained in power until July 1981, when he died in a suspected plane crash.
Overall, the 1980s was marked by economic recession and severe public debt. At the end of 1983 General Noriega proposed and obtained the adoption of a law according to which the powers of the state were placed at the service of the military. In early 1987, Noriega found himself at the center of a serious international scandal: he was publicly accused of involvement with the Colombian drug cartel and illegal arms trafficking.
In March 1988, the United States imposed sanctions on Panama and encouraged an internal coup. In the 1989 election, an opposition candidate won, but Noriega declared the election null and void, and the regime became even more repressive. The United States responded with an operation called Just Cause, which led to the invasion of Panama on December 20, 1989. On January 3, 1990, General Noriega handed himself over to the United States authorities and was transferred to Miami, where he was sentenced to a 40-year prison sentence, which he is currently serving, later reduced to 30.
After the parenthesis of General Noriega’s regime, Panama consolidated its democratic institutions. The presidential elections held since then (the last in 2019) have been completely regular, peaceful and with alternation of political coalitions to the government of the country.
In 1989, Guillermo Endara was elected, followed by Ernesto Perez Balladares (1994-1999). In 1999 the presidential elections, held in a period of deep economic crisis, were won by Mireya Moscoso, widow of Arnulfo Arias, the first woman in the country’s history to hold this high office. Subsequently, they held the positions of President Martin Torrijos (2004-2009), Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014), Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019), Laurentino Cortizo (2019-2024) and José Raúl Mulino (current chairman since 1 July 2024)