Mother Jones illustration; Joey Sussman/ZUMA; Album/Quintlox (2)
As the Trump administration deepens its involvement in Venezuela, critics warn the US is slipping back into an old pattern of intervention in Latin America. Few places better illustrate what can follow than the history of the Panama Canal.
Shortly after returning to office, President Donald Trump said the US would be “reclaiming” the Panama Canal, language that reignited long-standing tensions over sovereignty and control. The administration has framed its renewed focus on Panama as a way to counter Chinese influence over critical shipping infrastructure. To many in the region, it sounds like something they’ve heard before.
This documentary short examines the flashpoint that reshaped US-Panama relations for decades.
A collaboration between Reveal and Retro Report, the film revisits the 1964 student protests that erupted after a dispute over which country’s flag should fly at a US-run school inside the US-controlled Canal Zone. What began as a confrontation between teenagers escalated into days of violence, leaving more than 20 people dead and shattering relations between the US and Panama.
Drawing on eyewitness accounts and archival footage, the film shows how a symbolic fight over national identity became a turning point that reshaped diplomacy, amplified demands for sovereignty, and ultimately led to the transfer of the canal to Panama.
Listen to the Reveal episode “Trump’s New World (Dis)order”
