The Panama Canal : the crisis in historical perspective

This newly updated edition of Walter LaFeber's widely praised study of the evolution of U.S.-Panama relations contains two new chapters on the events that have occurred since the Panama Canal Treaty in 1978. This new edition offers particularly detailed examinations of the 1988 attempt to oust Manuel Noriega and Noriega's role in aiding the Nicaraguan Contras, as well as invaluable background information for understanding the 1989 crises. LaFeber argues that the interdependent, but turbulent, relationship between Panama and the United States continued into the 1980s with the U.S. using General Manuel Antonio Noriega to overthrow the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. U.S. officials in the Reagan administration also subordinated widespread knowledge of Noriega's drug trafficking in order to keep Panama in line with the U.S. policy towards Nicaragua. But by 1986, the United States both knew and demanded too much of Noriega, and the relationship finally began to fragment. LaFeber's updated volume remains the essential source for anyone who wants a complete picture of U.S.-Panama relations from Balboa to the present. Today they stand as enemies, but in the 1950s, few countries were as closely intertwined as Cuba and the United States. Thousands of Americans (including Ernest Hemingway and Errol Flynn) lived on the island, and, in the United States, dancehalls swayed to the mambo beat. The strong-arm Batista regime depended on Washington's support, and it invited American gangsters like Meyer Lansky to build fancy casinos for U.S. tourists. Major league scouts searched for Cuban talent: The New York Giants even offered a contract to a young pitcher named Fidel Castro. In 1955, Castro did come to the United States, but not for baseball: He toured the country to raise money for a revolution. Thomas Paterson tells the fascinating story of Castro's insurrection, from that early fund-raising trip to Batista's fall and the flowering of the Cuban Revolution that has bedeviled the United States for more than three decades. With evocative prose and a swift-moving narrative, Paterson recreates the love-hate relationship between the two nations, then traces the intrigue of the insurgency, the unfolding revolution, and the sources of the Bay of Pigs invasion, CIA assassination plots, and the missile crisis. The drama ranges from the casino blackjack tables to Miami streets; from the Eisenhower and Kennedy White Houses to the crowded deck of the Granma, the frail boat that carried the Fidelistas to Cuba from Mexico; from Batista's fortified palace to mountain hideouts where Rau'l Castro held American hostages. Drawing upon impressive international research, including declassified CIA documents and interviews, Paterson reveals how Washington, fixed on the issue of Communism, failed to grasp the widespread disaffection from Batista. The Eisenhower administration alienated Cubans by supplying arms to a hated regime, by sustaining Cuba's economic dependence, and by conspicuously backing Batista. As Batista self-destructed, U.S. officials launched third-force conspiracies in a vain attempt to block Castro's victory. By the time the defiant revolutionary leader entered Havana in early 1959, the foundation of the long, bitter hostility between Cuba and the United States had been firmly laid. Since the end of the Cold War, the futures of Communist Cuba and Fidel Castro have become clouded. Paterson's gripping and timely account explores the origins of America's troubled relationship with its island neighbor, explains what went wrong and how the United States'let this one get away,'and suggests paths to the future as the Clinton administration inches toward less hostile relations with a changing Cuba.

a Superb Treatment Of The Evolution Of U.s.-panama Relations, Walter Lafeber's the Panama Canal Was Praised By the Nation As A Balanced, Unemotional Indictment Of The History Of The United States In Panama. history Hailed It As The Best Overall Synthesis Of A Vital Theme In American Diplomatic History, And the Atlantic Monthly Said There Was No Better Single Source.
Now In This New Edition, Lafeber Brings His Study Up To Date With Two New Chapters That Cover U.s.-panama Relations Since 1978, Including The Attempt To Oust Manuel Noriega, And Noriega's Role In Aiding The Nicaraguan Contras. Essential For Anyone Who Wants A Complete Picture Of The Canal Debate From Balboa To The Present, This New Edition Of The Classic Work On The Subject Is An Important Contribution To The Discussion Of The Panama Issue Today.

Contents......Page 16 Preface to Updated Edition......Page 8 Preface to First Edition......Page 10 1 Balboa, de Lesseps, and Cromwell......Page 22 2 Roosevelt, Bunau-Varilla, and Taft......Page 42 3 Wilson, Arias, and Roosevelt......Page 65 4 Arias, Remón, and Eisenhower......Page 90 5 Chiari, Johnson, and Robles......Page 122 6 Torrijos, Kissinger, and Carter......Page 144 7 Byrd, Baker, and Torrijos......Page 182 8 Noriega, Reagan, and Abrams......Page 207 Conclusion: Five Questions......Page 235 Appendix: The 1903 and 1977–1978 Treaties......Page 244 Bibliographical Essay......Page 268 A......Page 278 B......Page 279 C......Page 280 D......Page 281 H......Page 282 L......Page 283 N......Page 284 P......Page 285 R......Page 286 T......Page 287 U......Page 288 Z......Page 289 An updated edition of LaFeber's study of the evolution of US-Panama relations. It offers detailed examinations of the earlier attempt to oust Manuel Noriega and Noriega's role in aiding the Nicaraguan Contras, as well as background information for understanding the 1989 crises.