Page 52 - 2025 - Q1 - Minerva in Focus
P. 52

MINERVA IN FOCUS



          The Panama Canal:


          A passage that




          changed history






















          The Panama Canal is one of the most
          important waterways in the world. It
          connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,
          saving ships weeks of sailing time
          by avoiding the long route around the
          southern tip of South America. But behind
          this shortcut is a long and complicated
          history – one that helped shape not only
          the country of Panama but global shipping
          as a whole.


          The early struggle to build the canal  An engineering challenge
                                             Work on the canal officially began under US
          The dream of a canal through Central Amer-  control in 1904. This time, the approach was  The canal
          ica goes back centuries. In the late 1800s,
          the French, led by Ferdinand de Lesseps   different. Instead of trying to dig a sea-level   changed
          (who had built the Suez Canal), tried to dig a   would lift and lower ships through a series  everything for
                                             canal, engineers designed a lock system that
          canal across Panama, which was then part
          of Colombia. But they faced huge problems   of artificial lakes and channels. The biggest   international
          – heavy rains, dangerous terrain, and deadly   Cut (a mountain range) and controlling the  shipping. It
                                             challenges were cutting through the Culebra
          tropical diseases like malaria and yellow
          fever. Over 20,000 workers died, and the   Chagres River, which often flooded.  shortened
                                             The US also brought in doctors and sanita-
          project was abandoned.             tion experts to fight the spread of disease.  the distance
          In the early 1900s, the United States be-
          came interested in building the canal.   Thanks to better planning, equipment, and   between the
                                             health measures, the project moved for-
          They signed a treaty with Colombia, but   ward. After ten years of hard work, the Pan- East and West
          the Colombian Senate rejected it. At the
          same time, a movement for Panama’s inde-  ama Canal officially opened on 15 August,   coasts of the
          pendence was growing. With  US support,   1914, with the first ship, the “SS Ancon”,   Americas by
          Panama declared independence from Co-  making the full transit.
          lombia in 1903. Soon after, Panama signed                             over 8,000
          the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, giving the   The canal changed everything for interna- nautical miles
                                             A game-changer for global trade
          US the right to build and control the canal
          zone.                              tional shipping. It shortened the distance

          50                                                                                ISSUE 31 / Q1 2025
   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57