Michael L. Conniff and Gene E. Bigler have written an excellent and well-documented book on the recent history of Panama. The introduction and the first four chapters analyze the period between independence (1903) and the government of Ernesto Pérez-Balladares (1994-99), with an emphasis on the historical processes after the signing of the Carter-Torrijos treaties (1977), which made possible the progressive nationalization of the canal (1999). When considering the second half of the 20th century, both authors pay special attention to the rise of the military, the invasion of the United States in 1989, the return to democracy after the end of the Manuel Antonio Noriega regime, the abolition of the army, the reinsertion of Panama in the global economy, and the redefinition of the national identity.
The remaining five chapters of the book, covering the period from 1999 to 2019, analyze public policies aimed at modernizing and diversifying the economy, tackling poverty and social inequality, combating drug trafficking and corruption, and improving Panama's geostrategic competitiveness. After the nationalization, the canal became an extraordinary engine of development, with multiple and diverse economic and institutional linkages; therefore, an entire chapter is devoted to analyzing its expansion, its rapid adaptation to the new conditions of world trade, and its increasingly significant contribution to Panama's gross domestic product.
Although the central organization of the book, a periodization based on presidential administrations, recalls traditional ways of studying the past, Conniff and Bigler have departed decisively from such an approach. By means of a consistent analytical narrative, they identify, for each of the government periods, the interests at stake, the individuals, groups, organizations and institutions that promoted or opposed them, and the corresponding conflicts and their results. Simultaneously, they cover the processes under way in various scenarios: relations between Panama and the United States, tensions between Panamanian and US workers, competition for power within and between political parties, and popular opposition faced by different governments.
Given the way the book is organized, its historical time is predominantly short-term. For this reason, when considering each of the presidential administrations, Conniff and Bigler extend themselves, sometimes excessively, by reconstructing the corresponding context of each government, and insist on reiterating themes already considered in previous chapters. To counter this attention to detail and the tendency to reiterate, a medium-term perspective predominates in the conclusions, which synthesize the main changes experienced by Panama from 1977 to 2019 and show the achievements made, the inequalities that persist, and the tensions accumulated.
Written clearly, Conniff and Bigler's book considers the main existing studies in English and Spanish on Panama and presents different historical sources imaginatively, especially journalistic ones. It also incorporates a valuable comparative perspective that appropriately places the Panamanian experience in the context of globalization. More importantly, it shows how a small Latin American country with an incipient democracy has managed to survive the expansion of neoliberal policies in Latin America while competently modernizing one of the most emblematic engineering works of the 20th century.
In writing this book, Conniff and Bigler have demonstrated not only their extensive knowledge of Panama's history, but also their deep feelings for that country. For this reason, the analytical narrative is sometimes displaced by a passionate chronicle of the facts considered, which recalls the style of John Reed or the Costa Rican anti-imperialist writer and activist Vicente Sáenz. These echoes, as unexpected as they are pertinent, demonstrate that, like Panama, the book by Conniff and Bigler is also a crossroads that brings together the best of the intellectual traditions of the Americas.
