Panama is, perhaps, the country in Central America that has suffered under the longest US shadow, right from the very beginning. The country and its famous canal would grow to become the United States's most important asset in the region. During World War II, the US installed as many as 100 military bases throughout Panama, and it was the base of Washington’s Latin American military training apparatus. Panama became the heart of the United States in Latin America, and the US ripped apart the country to do it, clearing and flooding whole cities, installing its own walls and fences, segregating its new territory into an apartheid system on foreign soil.

In this episode, host Michael Fox walks us from present-day Panama to the very beginning, to the genesis of what was once the United States’s most important asset in Latin America. This is Episode 12 of Under the Shadow.

Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present.

In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.

Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.

This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.

Guests:
John Lindsay Poland
Marixa Lasso
Olmedo Beluche
Celia Sanjur
Gilma Camargo
Claire Nevache-Weill

Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.

Follow and support journalist Michael Fox and Under the Shadow, and listen to his new podcast Panamerican Dispatch at https://www.patreon.com/mfox

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The Panama Canal | Under the Shadow, Episode 12