For Lives and Property: How US Settler Colonialism in Panama Altered Isthmian Affairs, 1914–21

From new colonial projects to military occupations, the early twentieth century represents a watershed in U.S. imperialism and the Central American isthmus was a central tributary. My paper explores how U.S. settlers in the Republic of Panama shaped not only U.S. power on the isthmus during this time, but also facilitated the breakdown of relations between Panama and Costa Rica.

This paper will examine the early years of this U.S. settler colonial project in Panama and its effects upon Panama-Costa Rica affairs. Between 1914 and 1921, the United States government worked to mediate border disputes between these nations along the boundaries of Panama’s Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí provinces. As Panama City kept rejecting the fruits of such mediation, Washington was unsure of its next move.

Simultaneous to these repudiated government actions, thousands of U.S. citizens spilled over from the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone into this disputed borderland. These settlers came into conflict with locals as they routinely bought lands and committed crimes against Panamanians while relying upon the U.S. institutions within the Canal Zone for protection. Soon, these U.S. citizens began undermining the interests of Panama in this disputed territory despite the United States being treaty-bound to protect Panama’s sovereignty. As these settlers exacerbated tensions between Panama, Costa Rica, and U.S. mediators, the U.S. government felt obliged to protect the lives and property of its citizens within the disputed zone and ordered a military occupation to that effect.

This paper relies upon unpublished archival materials in the United States and Panama to show that these settlers, as non-state actors, altered the balance of power in this important episode of inter-American affairs. I hope to show that, through these processes, non-state actors made inter-American affairs more than mere bilateral relations, but rather a complex series of events requiring on-the-ground analysis.