View source for Secession of Panama from Colombia

{{Short description|1903 French- and US-supported establishment of the Republic of Panama}}
{{Redirect|Independence of Panama|Panama's brief independence from Spain in 1821|Independence of Panama from Spain}}
[[File:AGHRC (1890) - Carta XI - División política de Colombia, 1824.jpg|thumb|Map showing the shrinking territory of [[Gran Colombia]] from 1824 (colored areas, including [[Venezuela]] and [[Ecuador]]) to 1890 (red line) and the [[Provinces of the Republic of New Granada|Cundinamarca region]]. [[Panama]] seceded in 1903 from [[Colombia]], and comprises the yellow area in the Central American isthmus.|upright=1.2]]
{{History of the Republic of Colombia}}
The '''[[secession]] of [[Panama]] from [[Colombia]]''' was formalized on 3 November 1903, with the establishment of the [[Republic of Panama]] and the [[Costa Rica-Panama border|abolition of the Colombia-Costa Rica border]]. From the [[Independence of Panama from Spain]] in 1821, Panama had simultaneously declared independence from Spain and joined itself to the confederation of [[Gran Colombia]] through the [[Independence Act of Panama]].  Panama was always tenuously connected to the rest of the country to the south, owing to its remoteness from the government in [[Bogotá]] and [[Darién Gap|lack of a practical overland connection]] to the rest of Gran Colombia. In 1840–41, a short-lived independent republic was established under [[Tomás de Herrera]]. After rejoining Colombia following a 13-month independence, it remained a province which saw frequent rebellious flare-ups, notably the [[Panama crisis of 1885]], which saw the intervention of the [[United States Navy]], and a reaction by the [[Chilean Navy]].

During the [[History of the Panama Canal|construction of the Panama Canal]], the initial attempts by France to construct a sea-level canal across the isthmus were secured through treaty with Colombia; however French cost overruns led to abandonment of the canal for a decade. During the intervening years, local separatists used the political instability of the [[Thousand Days' War]] to agitate for political secession from Colombia and establishment of an independent republic. When the United States sought to take over the canal project, the legislature of Colombia rejected the proposed treaty. With the collaboration of French lobbyist [[Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla]] and [[United States]] President [[Theodore Roosevelt]], Panama declared independence from Colombia and negotiated a [[Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty|treaty granting the U.S. the right to construct the canal]].

The United States was the first country to recognize the independence of the nascent republic, [[Gunboat diplomacy|sending the U.S. Navy]] to prevent Colombia from retaking the territory during the early days of the new Republic. In exchange for its role in defending the Republic, and for constructing the canal, the U.S. was granted a perpetual lease on the land around the canal, known as the [[Panama Canal Zone]], which was returned to Panama in 1999 under the terms of the [[Torrijos–Carter Treaties]].

After the United States, many other nations quickly recognized the independent republic, though Colombia initially refused to do so. Colombia finally recognized Panamanian independence in 1909, after receiving a $500,000 payment from Panama to cover the debts it owed at independence.

==Background==
===Prelude===
After [[Independence of Panama from Spain|achieving independence]] from [[Spanish empire|Spain]] on November 28, 1821, Panama became a part of the [[Gran Colombia|Republic of Gran Colombia]] which consisted of today's [[Colombia]], [[Venezuela]], [[Panama]], and most of [[Ecuador]].

The political struggle between [[federalism|federalists]] and [[Centralization|centralists]] that followed independence from Spain resulted in a shifting administrative and jurisdictional status for Panama. Under centralism Panama was established as the [[Department of the Isthmus]] and during federalism as the [[Panama State|Sovereign State of Panama]]. In 1886, it became the [[Panama Department (1886)|Panama Department of Colombia]].

===1885 crisis===
{{See also|Panama crisis of 1885}}

An 1846 treaty between Colombia and the United States, the [[Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty]],<ref name=Wicks>{{cite journal|last=Wicks|first=Daniel H.|title=Dress Rehearsal: United States Intervention on The Isthmus of Panama, 1885|journal=[[Pacific Historical Review]]|volume=49|issue=4|year=1980|pages=581–605|jstor=3638968 |doi=10.2307/3638968 }}</ref> pledged the United States to maintain "neutrality" in Panama in exchange for transit rights in the isthmus on behalf of Colombia.<ref name=Wicks/> In March 1885 Colombia thinned its military presence in Panama, sending troops stationed there to fight rebels in other provinces.<ref name=Wicks/> These favourable conditions prompted an insurgency in Panama.<ref name=Wicks/> The [[United States Navy]] was sent there to keep order; however, consistent with its obligations under the treaty of 1846, the ship's commander refused to intervene in the rebellion.<ref name=Wicks/>

===Thousand Days' War===
The [[Thousand Days' War]] (1899–1902) was one of the many armed struggles between the [[Colombian Liberal Party|Liberal]] and [[Colombian Conservative Party|Conservative]] Parties which devastated Colombia, including Panama, during the 19th century. This new civil war ended with the signing of the Treaties of Neerlandia (October 24, 1902) and USS ''[[USS Wisconsin (BB-9)|Wisconsin]]'' (November 21, 1902). However, the Liberal leader [[Victoriano Lorenzo]] refused to accept the terms of the agreement and was executed on May 15, 1903.

On July 25, 1903, the headquarters of the Panamanian newspaper ''El Lápiz'' were raided on the orders of the military commander for Panama, General [[José Vásquez Cobo]], brother of the then [[Colombian Minister of War]], as a retaliation for the publication of a detailed article narrating the execution and protests in Panama. This event damaged the trust of Panamanian liberals in the Conservative government based in [[Bogotá]], and they later joined the separatist movement.

In 1903, the United States and Colombia signed the [[Hay–Herrán Treaty]] to finalize the construction of the [[Panama Canal]] but the process{{clarify|date=November 2017}} could not be completed because the [[Congress of Colombia]] rejected the measure (which the Colombian government had proposed) on August 12, 1903.

==Secession==
{{See also|History of the Panama Canal}}

===Formation of secessionist movement===
Panamanian politician [[José Domingo De Obaldía]] was selected for the [[Governor of the Isthmus of Panama]],{{When|date=January 2025}} an office that he had previously held, and was supported by secessionist movements. Another Panamanian politician named [[José Agustín Arango]] began to plan the revolution and secession. The secessionists wanted to negotiate the construction of the Panama Canal directly with the United States due to the negativity of the Colombian government.

The secessionist network was formed by Arango, Dr. [[Manuel Amador Guerrero]], General [[Nicanor de Obarrio]], [[Ricardo Arias (politician)|Ricardo Arias]], [[Federico Boyd]], [[Carlos Constantino Arosemena]], [[Tomás Arias]], [[Manuel Espinosa Batista]] and others. The group was soon joined by [[Manuel Amador Guerrero]], who would become the leader of the independence movement. Amador gained the support of important Panamanian liberal leaders and of another military commander, [[Esteban Huertas]].{{sfn|Johnson|1906|pp=162-163}} 

In September 1903, Amador traveled to New York in September to determine how the United States might support the separation movement.{{sfn|Ospina Peña|2017|loc=XXV—El Plan B}} Amador was put in touch with the engineer [[Philippe Bunau-Varilla]], meeting him in a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York. Bunau-Varilla wrote the conspirators a $100,000 check to fund a renewed Panamanian revolt. In return, Bunau-Varilla would become Panama's representative in Washington.<ref name="Yu"/><ref>{{cite web| url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/11/05/105064628.pdf| title = Special to ''The New York Times''. November 5, 1903, Thursday, p. 1; 2557 words}}</ref> Bunai-Varilla then arranged for Amador to meet U.S. President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. Roosevelt carefully avoided endorsing the revolt, but told Amador that if the Panamanian separatists revolted, the US would view this as a positive development and could be counted on to act accordingly. However, he warned Amador to avoid violence, since the American people would not recognize independence gained through bloodshed.{{sfn|McCullough|1977|pp=361–386}}<ref name="hanson"/> Satisfied that his group had the tacit support of the U.S. government, Amador returned to Panama to set a plan in motion.{{sfn|Ospina Peña|2017|loc=XXV—El Plan B}}{{sfn|Harding|2006|p=30}} Meanwhile, President Roosevelt ordered the warship [[USS Nashville (PG-7)|USS ''Nashville'']] under commander John Hubbard to proceed first to Jamaica, then to Panama.

===Declaration of independence from Colombia===
The secessionist movement set November 1903 as its date. However, rumors in Colombia spread but the information received by the government of Colombia indicated that [[Nicaragua]] was planning to invade a region of northern Panama known as the [[Calovébora]]. The Government deployed troops from the [[Tiradores Battalion]] from [[Barranquilla]], and instructed the commander to take over the functions of the Governor of Panama [[José Domingo de Obaldía]] and General [[Esteban Huertas]], whom the government did not trust. The Colombian troops dispatched to Panama were hastily assembled conscripts with little training. While these conscripts may have been able to defeat the Panamanian rebels, they would not have been able to defeat the US army troops that were supporting the Panamanian rebels. An army of conscripts was the best response the Colombians could muster, as Colombia was recovering from a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives from October 1899, to November 1902, known as the "[[Thousand Days' War|Thousand Days War]]". The US was fully aware of these conditions and even incorporated them into the planning of the Panama intervention as the US acted as an arbitrator between the two sides. The peace treaty that ended the "Thousand Days War" was signed on the [[USS Wisconsin (BB-9)|USS ''Wisconsin'']] on 21 November 1902. While in port, the US also brought engineering teams to Panama with the peace delegation to begin planning the canal's construction before the US had even gained the rights to build the canal. All these factors would result in the Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meade |first=Teresa A. |author-link=Teresa Meade |title=History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-77248-5 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=128–130}}</ref>

The Colombian Government dispatched 500 members of the Tiradores Battalion to [[Colón, Panama|Colón]] on the Caribbean Sea coast, traveling aboard the cruiser ''Cartagena'' and merchant ship ''Alexander Bixio''. These troops were under command of Generals [[Juan Tovar]] and [[Ramón Amaya]], and were hastily assembled conscripts with little training.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meade |first=Teresa A. |author-link=Teresa Meade |title=History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-77248-5 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=128–130}}</ref>

The ''USS Nashville'' landed on 2 November 1903 at Colón, using as pretext the [[Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty]] of 1846, which required the U.S. to preserve the peaceful use of the Panama Railroad.{{sfn|McCullough|1977|pp=361–386}}{{sfn|Harding|2006|p=30}} However, word also reached Colón of the Colombian ships on their way. As the news spread of the imminent arrival of Colombian troops, many of the conspirators abandoned the cause. Fearing that if they were caught they would be executed, Amador, Arango, and other conspirators met to discuss the situation.  Amador returned home dejected, fearing all was lost, but his wife María de la Ossa came up with a plan to separate the Colombian generals from their troops with help from friends on the railway. She surmised that once the officers were separated and arrested, the troops could be bribed to return home.{{sfn|Ospina Peña|2017|loc=XXX—Los acontecimientos en Panamá}}{{sfn|McCullough|1977|p=422}}{{sfn|McGeachy|1961|p=3}} Amador went out to convince Herbert G. Prescott, assistant superintendent, and James Shaler, superintendent of the Panama Railway to help transport the generals and once he gained their approval, he called the separatists together to get them to endorse the plan.{{sfn|McGeachy|1961|pp=3-4}} Shaler convinced the generals to go ahead to Panama City without their troops, while the railway was gathering sufficient cars for the troops.{{sfn|Harding|2006|p=31}}{{sfn|Ospina Peña|2017|loc=XXX—Los acontecimientos en Panamá}}{{sfn|McGeachy|1961|p=4}}

The Tiradores Battalion arrived in the Panamanian city of [[Colón, Panama|Colón]] the morning of November 3, 1903.{{sfn|Ospina Peña|2017|loc=XXX—Los acontecimientos en Panamá}} There, Generals Tovar and Amaya encountered [[Panama Railway]] authorities aligned with the secessionist movement, who ushered Tovar and his senior staff onto a train bound for [[Panama City]] to see [[José Domingo de Obaldía|Obaldía]], but delayed the passage of the tiradores, leaving them leaderless.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Edmund |title=Theodore Rex |publisher=Random House |year=2001 |isbn=0812966007 |pages=283–293}}</ref> General [[Esteban Huertas|Huertas]], commander of the [[Colombia Battalion]] in Panama, eventually ordered the arrest of Tovar and his aides. Upon hearing of the arrests in Panama City, the tiradores in Colón, commanded by Col. [[Eliseo Torres]], surrounded American troops garrisoned in the railroad yard before they were persuaded to leave Colón, under threat from USS ''Nashville''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=William Rufus |title=The Americans in Panama |url=https://archive.org/details/americansinpana01scotgoog |date=1912 |publisher=The Statler Publishing Company |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americansinpana01scotgoog/page/n92 64]–66 |edition=2 }}</ref> This is often cited as a classic example of the era of [[gunboat diplomacy]].

When the plan successfully concluded, Panama's independence was proclaimed and the Municipal Council met and confirmed the establishment of the [[Republic of Panama]].{{sfn|Harding|2006|p=31}}{{sfn|McGeachy|1961|p=6}} The Colombian gunboat [[Bogota (gunboat)|''Bogotá'']] fired shells upon Panama City the night of November 3, causing injuries and mortally wounding Wong Kong Yee of Hong Sang, China. He was the only casualty of independence.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5YjpSZ5AdYC&pg=PA16|title = The United States and the Republic of Panama|isbn = 9780405020360|last1 = McCain|first1 = William David|date = 1970-01-01| publisher=Arno Press }}</ref> 

[[Demetrio H. Brid]], president of the [[Municipal Council of Panama]], became the ''de facto'' [[President of Panama]] and on November 4, 1903 appointed a Provisional Government Junta, which governed the country until February 1904 and the [[Constituent National Convention of Panama|Constituent National Convention]]. The convention elected [[Manuel Amador Guerrero]] as first constitutional president. The United States quickly recognized the new nation. News of the secession of Panama from Colombia reached Bogotá only on November 6, 1903 due to a problem with the [[Submarine communications cable|submarine cables]].

===Reactions===
[[File:Panama canal cartooon 1903.jpg|thumb|1903 political cartoon]]
On November 13, 1903, the United States formally recognized the Republic of Panama (after recognizing it unofficially on November 6 and 7). On November 18, 1903, the [[United States Secretary of State]] [[John Hay]] and [[Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla]] signed the [[Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty]].<ref name="panama">{{cite web |year=2009 |url = http://countrystudies.us/panama/8.htm|title = The 1903 Treaty and Qualified Independence|publisher = [[U.S. Library of Congress]]|access-date = 2009-05-01}}</ref><ref name="SMH 1909"/> No Panamanians signed the treaty, although Bunau-Varilla was present as the diplomatic representative of Panama (a role he had purchased through financial assistance to the rebels), even though he had not lived in Panama for seventeen years prior to independence, and never returned afterwards. The treaty was later approved by the Panamanian government and the [[Senate of the United States]].

The ambassador of Colombia in Ecuador Emiliano Isaza was informed of the situation in Panama but did not inform his government to prevent a revolt in Bogotá. The government of Colombia then sent a diplomatic mission to Panama in an effort to make them reconsider by suggesting an approval by the senate of Colombia if they reconsidered the [[Hay–Herrán Treaty]] instead of the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty and also proposed making Panama City the capital of Colombia.<ref name="LABLAA">[http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/canal/can13.htm]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824020224/http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/canal/can13.htm|date=2007-08-24}} {{in lang|es}}<span> Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango: CAPITULO XIV MEMORIAL DE AGRAVIOS</span>, [[Luis Angel Arango Library]] Accessed 28 August 2007.</ref>{{Dubious|date=March 2010}}

The mission met aboard the ship {{USS|Mayflower|PY-1|6}} with the Panamanian delegation formed by [[Constantino Arosemena]], [[Tomás Arias]] and [[Eusebio A. Morales]], which rejected all proposals. Colombia then sent a delegation of prominent politicians and political figures; General [[Rafael Reyes]], [[Pedro Nel Ospina]], [[Jorge Holguín]] and [[Lucas Caballero]] who met with the same representative for Panama and [[Carlos Antonio Mendoza]], [[Nicanor de Obarrio]] y [[Antonio Zubieta]], without reaching any consensus.

Panama's independence caused Chilean authorities alarm concerning the growing influence of the United States. This made Chile put great efforts to deny a United States purchase of the [[Galápagos Islands]] or the establishment of a United States Guantanamo-like [[naval base]] there. Chilean diplomacy was backed by Germany and Britain on this issue.<ref name=Fischer2008>{{Cite journal|title=La expansión (1885-1918) del modelo militar alemán y su pervivencia (1919-1933) en América Latina|journal=Revista del CESLA|last=Fischer|first=Ferenc|date=2008-01-01|volume=11|pages=135–160|publisher=[[Uniwersytet Warszawski]]|language=es}}</ref>

President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The ''[[New York Times]]'' described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delano |first=Anthony |date=9 November 2016 |title=America's devious dream: Roosevelt and the Panama Canal |url=https://www.historyextra.com/membership/americas-devious-dream-roosevelt-and-the-panama-canal/ |access-date=6 March 2024 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426064237/https://www.historyextra.com/membership/americas-devious-dream-roosevelt-and-the-panama-canal/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Colby |first=Gerard |date=1 January 2020 |title=William S. Culbertson and The Search for The Geopolitical Imperium |url=https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1256 |journal=Graduate College Dissertations and Theses }}</ref> The ''[[New York Post|New York Evening Post]]'' called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huffman |first=Alan |date=15 August 2014 |title=Panama Canal's 48 Miles To An 'American Century' |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/panama-canal-anniversary-2014-100-years-ago-today-navigation-project-launched-1644698 |access-date=6 March 2024 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US |archive-date=17 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817092714/https://www.ibtimes.com/panama-canal-anniversary-2014-100-years-ago-today-navigation-project-launched-1644698 |url-status=live }}</ref> The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US [[gunboat diplomacy]] in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US [[protectorate]] until 1939.<ref name="hanson">{{cite web |last=Hanson |first=David C. |title=Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal |url=http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Content/PDFs/Roosevelt_Panama_Canal.pdf |publisher=Virginia Western Community College |access-date=21 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201211319/http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Content/PDFs/Roosevelt_Panama_Canal.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2014 }}</ref>

In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the [[Thomson–Urrutia Treaty]], in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $25 million: $5 million upon ratification, and four $5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal |title=U.S. agrees to transfer Panama Canal to Panama |work=History.com |access-date=28 July 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014923/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/panama-to-control-canal |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Recognition of Panama as a country===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! No. !! Country !! Date of recognition
|-
| 1 || {{flag|United States|1896}} || {{dts|6 November 1903}}<ref>{{cite web|title=A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776: Panama|url=https://history.state.gov/countries/panama|access-date=23 July 2016}}</ref>
|-
| 2 || {{flag|French Third Republic|name=France}} || {{dts|14 November 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 3 || {{flag|Qing Dynasty|name=Qing Empire}} || {{dts|26 November 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 4 || {{flag|Austria–Hungary}} || {{dts|27 November 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 5 || {{flag|German Empire|name=Germany}} || {{dts|30 November 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 6 || {{flag|Denmark}} || {{dts|3 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 7 || {{flag|Russian Empire|name=Russia}} || {{dts|6 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 8 || {{flag|Norway}} || {{dts|7 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 9 || {{flag|Sweden}} || {{dts|7 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 10 || {{flag|Belgium}} || {{dts|8 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 11 || {{flag|Nicaragua|1896}} || {{dts|15 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 12 || {{flagdeco|Peru|1825}} [[History of Peru#Reconstruction, the Aristocratic Republic, and Leguía's 11-year rule (1884–1930)|Peru]] || {{dts|19 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" >{{cite book|author1=Luis Martínez Delgado|title=Panamá: su independencia de España, su incorporación a la Gran Colombia, su separación de Colombia|date=1972|page=158|author1-link=Luis Martínez Delgado}}</ref>
|-
| 13 || {{flagdeco|Cuba|1902}} [[Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)|Cuba]] || {{dts|23 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 14 || {{flag|Italy|1861}} || {{dts|24 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 16 || {{flag|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|name=United Kingdom}} || {{dts|26 December 1903}}<ref name="johnson" />
|-
| 17 || {{flag|Empire of Japan|name=Japan}} || {{dts|28 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 18 || {{flag|Switzerland}} || {{dts|28 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 19 || {{flag|Costa Rica|1848}} || {{dts|28 December 1903}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 20 || {{flag|Guatemala}} || {{dts|15 January 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 21 || {{flag|Korean Empire|name=Korea}} || {{dts|24 January 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 22 || {{flagdeco|Venezuela|1863}} [[United States of Venezuela|Venezuela]] || {{dts|3 February 1904}}<ref name="recognition" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Relaciones Bilaterales|url=http://panama.embajada.gob.ve/index.php/es/relacion-bilateral/relaciones-bilaterales|access-date=23 July 2016}}</ref>
|-
| 23 || {{flag|Netherlands}} || {{dts|6 February 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 24 || {{flagdeco|Qajar dynasty|1852}} [[Qajar Iran|Persia]] || {{dts|February 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 25 || {{flagdeco|Chile}} [[History of Chile during the Parliamentary Era (1891–1925)|Chile]] || {{dts|1 March 1904}}<ref name="recognition" /><ref name="panamamfa">{{cite web|title=Memoria 2011-2012|url=http://www.mire.gob.pa/sites/default/files/documentos/Trasnsparencia/gestion-anual-2011-2012.pdf|access-date=23 July 2016|page=195|language=es|archive-date=6 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806131148/https://www.mire.gob.pa/sites/default/files/documentos/Trasnsparencia/gestion-anual-2011-2012.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| 26 || {{flagdeco|Mexico|1893}} [[Porfiriato|Mexico]] || {{dts|1 March 1904}}<ref name="recognition" /><ref>{{cite web|title=MANUAL DE ORGANIZACIÓN DE LA EMBAJADA DE MÉXICO EN PANAMÁ|url=http://sre.gob.mx/images/stories/docnormateca/manexte/embajadas/MOEMPanama.pdf|access-date=23 July 2016|language=es|date=December 2008}}</ref>
|-
| 27 || {{flagdeco|Brazil|1889}} [[First Brazilian Republic|Brazil]] || {{dts|2 March 1904}}<ref name="recognition" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Panamá sede de la Primera Reunión Técnica Preparatoria de las Comisiones Mixtas de Cooperación entre Panamá y Brasil|url=http://mire.gob.pa/noticias/2010/12/06/panama-sede-de-la-primera-reunion-tecnica-preparatoria-de-las-comisiones-mixtas-|access-date=23 July 2016|language=es}}</ref>
|-
| 28 || {{flag|Argentina}} || {{dts|3 March 1904}}<ref name="johnson" />
|-
| 29 || {{flag|Siam|1855}} || {{dts|4 March 1904}}<ref name="johnson" />
|-
| 30 || {{flag|Honduras|1898}} || {{dts|March 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 31 || {{flag|El Salvador|1875}} || {{dts|March 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 32 || {{flagdeco|Spain|1874}} [[Restoration (Spain)|Spain]] || {{dts|10 May 1904}}<ref name="recognition" /><ref name="panamamfa" />
|-
| 33 || {{flag|Holy See}} || {{dts|May 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 34 || {{flag|Kingdom of Portugal|name=Portugal}} || {{dts|21 May 1904}}<ref name="recognition" /><ref name="panamamfa" />
|-
| 35 || {{flag|Kingdom of Serbia|name=Serbia|1882}} || {{dts|June 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 36 || {{flagdeco|Paraguay|1842}} [[Republic of Paraguay (1880-1904)|Paraguay]] || {{dts|July 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 37 || {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}} || {{dts|July 1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 38 || {{flag|Kingdom of Greece|name=Greece}} || {{dts|1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 39 || {{flag|Uruguay}} || {{dts|1904}}<ref name="recognition" />
|-
| 40 || {{flagdeco|Ecuador|1900}} [[History of Ecuador (1895–1925)|Ecuador]] || {{dts|21 September 1904}}<ref name="johnson">{{cite book|author1=Willis Fletcher Johnson|title=Four Centuries of the Panama Canal|url=https://archive.org/details/fourcenturiespa01johngoog|date=1906|page=[https://archive.org/details/fourcenturiespa01johngoog/page/n230 186]| publisher=New York, H. Holt and Co. }}</ref>
|-
| 41 || {{flag|Colombia}} || {{dts|7 January 1909}}<ref name="SMH 1909">{{cite web|title=SECESSION OF PANAMA.| newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15027494|access-date=23 July 2016|date=8 January 1909}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
* [[Colombia–Panama relations]]
* [[History of the Panama Canal]]
* [[Postage stamps and postal history of the Canal Zone]]
* [[United States involvement in regime change]]
* [[Latin America–United States relations]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Collin, Richard H. ''Theodore Roosevelt's Caribbean: The Panama Canal, the Monroe Doctrine & the Latin American Context'' (1990), 598pp. 
* Graham, Terence. ''The Interests of Civilization: Reaction in the United States Against the Seizure of the Panama Canal Zone, 1903-1904'' (Lund studies in international history, 1985).
* {{cite book|last=Harding|first=Robert C.|title=The History of Panama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5WfEXhFftwC&pg=PA28|year=2006|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=978-0-313-33322-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Willis Fletcher|title=Four Centuries of the Panama Canal|url=https://archive.org/stream/fourcenturiesofp00johnrich#page/n10/mode/1up/search/Manuel+Amador+Guerrero|year=1906|publisher=Henry Holt and Co.|location=New York, New York|oclc=576076780}}
* Lafeber, Walter. ''The Panama Canal: The Crisis in Historical Perspective'' (3rd ed. 1990).
* {{cite book |last=McCullough |first=David |author-link=David McCullough |title=The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |year=1977 |isbn=0-671-24409-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/pathbetweenseas00mccu}}
* {{cite journal|last1=McGeachy|first1=A. V.|title=November 3, 1903 Day of Destiny|journal=The Panama Canal Review|date=3 November 1961|volume=12|issue=4|pages=3–6|url=https://archive.org/stream/panamacanalrevie124pana#page/3/mode/1up|access-date=26 December 2017|publisher=The Panama Canal Company|location=Balboa Heights, Canal Zone, Panama}}
* Mellander, Gustavo A., Mellander, Nelly, Charles Edward Magoon: ''The Panama Years''. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1-56328-155-4. OCLC 42970390, 1999)
* Mellander, Gustavo A., ''The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years.'' Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568, 1971)
* Nikol, John, and Francis X. Holbrook, "Naval Operations in the Panama Revolution, 1903," ''American Neptune,'' 37 (1977), 253–261.
* {{cite book|last1=Ospina Peña|first1=Mariano|title=Los Roosevelt, los magnates y Panama|url=http://www.asisucedio.co/el-canal/|publisher=Así Sucedió|access-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223181913/http://www.asisucedio.co/el-canal/|archive-date=23 December 2017|location=Colombia|language=Spanish|date=21 July 2017|trans-title=Roosevelt, the Magnates and Panama}}
* Turk, Richard . "The United States Navy and the 'Taking of Panama, 1901-1903, ''Military Affairs'' 38 (1974), 92-96.

==External links==
* {{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20081224212909/http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/hispa/hispa05j.htm Luis Angel Arango Library - Separation of Panama]
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.demetriohbrid.com Demetrio H. Brid] Presidente ''de facto'' de la República - 1903

{{Colombia topics}}
{{Panama topics}}
{{United States intervention in Latin America}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secession Of Panama From Colombia}}
[[Category:1903 in Panama]]
[[Category:1903 in Colombia]]
[[Category:Separatism in Colombia]]
[[Category:Banana Wars|Panama]]
[[Category:Colombia–Panama relations]]
[[Category:Colombia–United States relations]]
[[Category:Independence of Panama]]
[[Category:November 1903]]
[[Category:United States involvement in regime change]]
[[Category:1890s in Panama]]
[[Category:1900s in Panama]]