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The Panama Canal

When there's a will there's a way.

By Giovanni ProfetaPublished 2 years ago 7 min read
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Is it really ok to do the unthinkable? to be one of those that dared? When we turn the pages of history and everything has been said and done, who are the ones that will be remembered? The ones that comply? We know that history is written by the winner, to be that, you have to go against all odds. “Nothing that results in human progress is achieved in unanimous consent. Those that are enlightened before the others are condemned to pursue that light in spite of others.” I know that this famous quote by the great explorer Christopher Columbus comes in handy with the scope of my topic. This quote speaks about the true nature of those who dare to go above and beyond to achieve greatness, one of them is without any doubt the obsession of the Old World to keep going West in search for greener pastures.

The Panama Canal took the world by storm during and after construction. Many thought that it was an impossible task, engineers found a way to split the Continent in half, making the dream of the old world a reality. Like Conquistadors from a not-so-distant past, man went against all odds to bulldoze their way into the inhospitable soil of the unknown.

Balboa and his one of a kind discovery.

In 1513, an adventurous navigator called Vasco Nunes de Balboa was the first to realize that what we now know as Panama, is a slim land bridge dividing two oceans. Can you imagine the commotion? What they thought was an almost infinite source of wealth happened to be a gateway to another ocean. His discovery sparked a new quest, is there a natural passage that connects this two immense bodies of water? For more than 20 years, soldiers marched back and forth in search of the new great discovery of the new world. Engulfed by untamed nature, no passage had been found.

The spirit of man cannot be tamed so easily, the Holy Roman Church commissioned to the great thinkers of the 16th century to come up with ideas and envisioned a man-made canal to unite both sides of the world. After years of research and endless litigation, the results were negative. To Renaissance’s technology point of view, such endeavor seamed unattainable, but takes more to subjugate the spirit of man.

GATEWAY TOWARDS THE OLD WORLD.

It took less than a couple of centuries for men to reshape history, long gone are the days of conquistadors armed with a cross as banner. Greed fueled their endless craving for power once more, again, man defied all odds and pointed their fingers towards attaining the unattainable. After many fails by several nations, the ones behind the Suez Canal and the Eiffel Tower joined forces to slice the jungle in two. Ferdinand de Lesseps, one of the visionaries that developed the Suez Canal in Egypt began to work his way into the jungle to create the passing. Due to poor planning, tropical diseases, and severe engineering problems, the project was doomed. Taking his previous work on the Suez Canal, the masterminds of the project tried to build a channel at sea level. Could it be possible that what worked on the other side of the world was destined to failure in the new world? Even here, the laws of physics must be followed, there’s no exception to the rule.

The ones involved had to carry the consequences of their miscalculations. In the beginning they tried to construct a canal without locks, just like the Suez Canal, in an attempt to save the project from being swallowed by the voracious jungle, Eiffel, was commissioned to reshape the project and build locks, but it was too late. De Lessepts, Eiffel and many others were found guilty of fraud and mismanagement charges.

THE WAIT IS OVER.

Since the 1800’s America wanted to unite both Oceans for military and economic reasons. Engineers found out that a canal in the soil of Nicaragua was feasible. A French engineer named Phillippe-Jean Bunau Varilla was able to persuade the companies behind the Nicaraguan canal to actually buy the French canal assets on Panamanian soil. According to his studies, Nicaragua had a non-optimal soil characteristic due to the fact of his volcanic heritage.

Near the beginning of the 20th century, with the seeds of the industrial revolution in full blossom, the Congress authorized the purchase of the French assess. The following year, in the middle of political turmoil, Colombia, which Panama was then a part of, refused to let the Americans construct the canal. The Panamanians, tapped on the shoulder by The President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, revolted against the Colombian government and gained independence.

The Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty was signed, it gave America a right to construct the canal, an endeavor that will cost more than $350 Million to build. On the treaty, U.S.A. gained perpetuity on the control of the canal. But as we learned throughout history, not everything is either black or white, there are different shades of white in between. After many years of litigations and protest, in 1999, Panama gained total control over the infrastructure, assess and revenue of the Panama Canal.

We will pay the price, no matter the cost.

The construction of the Panama Canal took a fair amount of lives. Workers dodged blow after blow from an unforgiving jungle. Around 25.000 people died due to the challenging terrain, tropical diseases and accidents. According to the research, the French labor force was the one who took great part of the casualties. Around 19.000 died under the implacable sun of the tropic jungle. A high price for their bold ingenuity.

Destined to make the world smaller.

To sum things up, I had the chance to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific on a sailboat across the Panama Canal. Stories about the conquest of the new world fueled my imagination since an early age. For years, I dreamed about reaching distant shores and cross the canal like a true seaman. Well, it finally came true in the most unexpected way, I’m lucky to say that my passions have created wonderful serendipity in everything I put my mind into.

In anticipation, as we got closer to Panama, the amount of cargo ships stunned me, ships on every direction possible, I lost count on all the different flags we saw on the horizon, with ours just adding more colors to the palette. Those were some busy nights on deck to say the least, but nothing compares to what we saw inside and around the canal. We were insignificant in size, but colossal in meaning, an orange sailboat making his way flanked by tankers from all over the world.

Without any doubt, this mammoth infrastructure baffled me at first sight, the jungle that surrounds the man-made lagoons made me remember all those terror stories I’ve read on Hernan Cortez recollections or even Columbus diaries (if you’re into that kind of literature, it’s mind-blowing to read Christopher Columbus’ first voyage from his point of view, a true explorer). The incessant growls that came from within the thick foliage on shore are enough to fuel your scariest nightmares. Even though monkey’s population has been decimated, there’s still a large group of them jumping from branch to branch, emitting sharp sound waves that travel swiftly during the Panamanian night.

We crossed the first part of the canal near midnight. Right above, thousands of heavenly bodies glowed intensely, just like distant beacons in the unreachable and yet so close night sky.

If you ask me, I was way up there, doing the impossible, following the steps of conquistadors of a not-so-distant past. Believe me when I say this, dreams do come true under the canopy of stars.

Historical
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About the Creator

Giovanni Profeta

Swimming through life one stroke at a time.

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