Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #762202 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-14
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 325 pages

Customer Reviews

La historia desde otro angulo
Es un historia compleja, como lo son todas las historias reales. Hay que tomar en cuenta todos los ángulos, todas las circunstancias y a veces esto no es posible. Esto es lo que sucede en el relato de Ovidio Diaz Espino. Pero es que el no tiene la intención de mostrar todos los ángulos sino el que ha sido ocultado a través de los años, el de la importantísima participación de un grupo de especuladores y negociantes de Wall Street para lograr su objetivo que era el de vender la concesión colombiana para la construcción del canal Panamá concesión de la que eran propietarios debido a que la habían comprado a los accionistas franceses de la Compañía Nueva del Canal.

A partir de ese deseo vehemente de venta (a los Estados Unidos de América) se produce una fuerza arrolladora, que no se puede detener y que utilizando muchas habilidades, deseos de los panameños e intrigas llevan al triunfo final que es la separación del Istmo. De eso se trata el relato del autor. Definitivamente que la participación panameña es tan fundamental que sin ella no se habría separado al Istmo pero lo que se cuestiona es la motivación de los proceres.

The creation of Panama by Wall Street.
As the previous reviewer noted about Senator Morgan from Lousiana, I also found a error in this book. It states some of the elections from Indiana and how Roosevelt and the Democrats suffered losses in this state. We are talking of the first Roosevelt and he was a Republican, and not a Democrat. Perhaps the author or one of the proof readers made a mistake, but it gets you thinking that if they do a poor job in the basics, perhaps the author made other errors. I don't think Diaz is stretching too far when he states the Administration, certain financial interests on Wall Street, and the French banks conspired to help Panamanians get their independence in exchange for making a favorable treaty with the American government.
This is a nice little book and the author makes some reasonable assertions about how Panama got its independence. Colombia had already lost Ecuador and Venezuela in the mid 1800s. Panama was not an intregal part of Colombia and the civil strife in Bogota was great. All it took was a little money (which the banks loaned) and the will of the Panamanian people, and Panama became independent. Diaz may think this clouds the reputation of Panama's founders, but I think it was inevitable what would happen to Panama.

Marred by Error
This book is not without error and at least one of them is significant because it involves a major player, Senator John Tyler Morgan.

In the verion I read, the author has Morgan as being from Louisiana. Tyler moved to Alabama from Tennessee as a very young child and was involved in that state's politics for more than 50 years, 30 of them as a Senator. Louisiana never sent anyone named Morgan to the Senate (and only one to the House).

The book reads well, but a sloppy error like that makes you want to backtrack a lot of other information.