Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 5 of 24 · 14 min
Independence and Bolívar's Dream: Panama Left Spain Without a Shot
In 1821 Panama left Spain without a shot, its merchants paying the royalist garrison to sail home, and joined Bolívar's Gran Colombia. Bolívar called the isthmus the emporium of the world, yet rule from distant Bogotá left it taxed and neglected. Two attempts at separation in 1830 and 1831 failed.
Who's who
- José de FábregaPanamanian-born commander who led the bloodless 1821 separation from Spain
- Simón BolívarThe Liberator; envisioned Panama as the heart of a united Latin America
- José Domingo EspinarLed Panama's first separation attempt in 1830
- Juan Eligio AlzuruColonel whose brutal 1831 coup produced a short dictatorship
- Tomás de HerreraGeneral who defeated Alzuru and reattached Panama to New Granada
Where it happens
- Los Santos, PanamaTown where the first cry for independence rose, November 10, 1821
- Panama City, Panama+6 more episodesIndependence declared in Cathedral Plaza, November 28, 1821
- Bogotá, Colombia+1 more episodeDistant capital that governed Panama
- Casco Viejo, Panama+1 more episodeMeeting place of the 1826 Congress of Panama
Timeline
- 1815Bolívar writes the Jamaica Letter calling Panama 'the emporium of the world'
- November 10, 1821Grito de La Villa de Los Santos
- November 28, 1821Panama declares independence and votes to join Gran Colombia
- June-July 1826Bolívar's Congress of Panama meets; its treaty is ratified only by Gran Colombia
- September 26, 1830Espinar leads Panama's first separation attempt
- July-August 1831Alzuru's dictatorship is defeated and Panama is reincorporated
Still debated
Historians point mainly to internal rivalries, distance and Gran Colombia's own breakup, rather than Anglo-American sabotage, to explain the failure of the 1826 Congress. Panama's 1821 union with Gran Colombia is usually called voluntary but was shaped by fear of Spanish reconquest. Readings of Espinar's motives range from loyalty to opportunism.