The Panama-United States Connection is Real
When you ask Americans about traveling south of the border for tourism, or to a
Latin beach paradise for some fun in the sun, they always mention Costa Rica, or
Cancún in Mexico. Big countries like Colombia, Brazil or Argentina get visitors as
well, and cruises around the Caribbean, sailing from New York or Florida, are also
a top choice.
Panama-United States: The Historical Connection
That Makes Panama America’s Perfect Latin Getaway
The thing is, however cool and accommodating as these countries and ships are,
they don’t have a direct connection to the US (save Puerto Rico, The Bahamas
and the Virgin Islands). And all the while, little Panama has everything they might
want or need for a vacation, or even relocation, and they’ve been missing out.
The historical connection comes from the Panama Canal, which the United States
built and ran from 1904 to 1999. This world marvel is a great American feat of
engineering, and an interesting social experiment as well: the canal zone area of
Panama was a colonial enclave where many good things (unique architecture,
ideal urban development for the tropics) happened, as well as some bad ones (Jim
Crow like segregation, disregard for the Panamanians sovereignty). Panama’s
main currency is the US dollar. Baseball and hamburgers are more popular here
than soccer or corn tortillas are in other Latin countries.
