THE WATER, THE PANAMA CANAL AND THE STRATEGIC NATIONAL CONJUNCTION

Abstract

On December 31, 1999, the Panama canal passed into Panamanian hands and the nation-state assumed full sovereignty over the colonial stripe that had covered it for almost a century. In this essay, the Panamanian specialist and University of Panama professor, Manuel F. Zarate R, analyzes, from an historical and environmental perspective, water as a national resource and raw material, and the transformation of the "aquatic road" from a link of permanent conflict between two nations to a strategic link in the development of the Isthmus.