The Remon–Eisenhower Treaty, was a 1955

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

that updated and amended the original

Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty () was a treaty signed on November 18, 1903, by the United States and Panama, which established the Panama Canal Zone and the subsequent construction of the Panama Canal. It was named after its two primary negotiato ...

of 1903 for the Panama Canal and

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

. Other aspects of the treaty covered local trader / worker rights, upgrades and military base usage.

Background

In 1952,

José Antonio Remón Cantera Colonel José Antonio Remón Cantera (11 April 1908 – 2 January 1955) was the 16th President of Panama, holding office from 1 October 1952 until his death on January 2, 1955. He was Panama's first military strongman and ruled the country behi ...

, a former police commander in chief, won the presidential election in Panama. To further get the approval of the town of

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

, Remon followed a famous saying in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, "''Ni millones ni limosnas, queremos justicia''." ("Neither millions nor alms, we want justice.")

Negotiations

The negotiations began in September 1953. Amazingly, they partially ended in December 1954—partially, because in December, one point of the treaty was missing. Panama was to grant the United States its military base in Rio Hato. This brings back the treaties in 1942, when Panama actually granted the United States around 130 bases throughout the country, for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. These bases were to be given back to Panama, but the USA tried extending that in the Convent of 1947. The USA failed. A couple of days later, they were given back to Panama. The negotiations ended on 25 January 1955.

Jose Antonio Remon Cantera

President Remon got shot and died on 2 January 1955. Nevertheless, the treaty was given his name (Remon–Eisenhower) due to the large efforts and never-ending fights against the U.S. for this treaty. The story of his death is unknown, and the person who shot him was caught, but was found only to be the killer; he had personal reasons. A further theory says he got shot because of not allowing the United States the Rio Hato base, which was granted after he died, in the treaty. Nevertheless, there is no actual evidence of this.

Treaty summary

In summary, the treaty contains the following: #The treaty raised the annual payment of the canal (from US-Panama) from $430,000, to $1.93 million. As a consequence, Panama agreed to lower, by 75%, the tax on national liquors sold in the

. #Panama was granted the right to charge taxes to Panamanians working in the canal and railroads operating inside the Zone or out of it. #The United States gave back Panamanian jurisdiction of the lands in "Punta Paitilla". It also gave back the lands of "Nuevo Cristobal", "Playa de Colon", and the Lesseps area. Panama, as a consequence, had multi-tasks to "beautify" the U.S.

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

in Panama. These tasks included the construction of a park in front of the embassy, and the fixing of two properties next to the embassy. #The construction of a bridge over the canal, by the USA. #The permitting of local traders to sell to ships crossing the canal. #The equality of local workers and Americans in the Canal. (Finally, the elimination of the Gold/Silver roll.) #The United States was to avoid contraband in the canal. #One point which Remon did not approve, and which the U.S. had been requesting since 1947. This point was finally conceded after Remon's death. The United States was granted, with no cost or 'trick', the military base and beach in Rio Hato, for a period of 15 years. The base was given back on 22 August 1970, after the government of General Torrijos refused to renew US use.

References

Sources