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National Divide by Steve Payne and Zach Timmons
 Author
says: what if the US lost Central America in the seventies? Please note
that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the
views of the author(s).
April 18th 1978:
on this day the margin of a single vote prevented the two-thirds majority
required by the US Senate to approve the transfer of the Panama Canal to its
sovereign state.
Defeat in the Senate was a bitter blow for President
Jimmy Carter's foreign policy at a critical time when the effectiveness of
his administration was under severe scrutiny. The previous September, Carter
had signed two treaties with Panama's leader, General Omar Torrijos Herrera.
The first provided for the gradual transfer of the canal to Panamanian
control on 31 December 1999. The other declared the canal neutral territory
and open to vessels of all nations. However, the US has retained the right
to defend the canal, preferably in support of Panama but alone, if
necessary.
There had been fierce domestic opposition to the prospect of giving up the
canal which critics argued was a necessary part of the US's defences despite
the fact that the Canal could not accommodate the larger vessels which had
become part of the US fleet by the time of the Korean War. And yet the irony
of the United States refusing to return a canal to its sovereign states was
not lost upon the British Government, nor the former
President M. Michael "Duke" Morrison who went against fellow
conservatives by supporting the Panama Canal Treaty. Having been married to
two south American wives, and owning property in the region, he also
correctly foresaw that the issue of the canal would lead to an upsurge of
anti-American feeling in Panama and other Latin American nations.
Author
says
to view guest historian's comments on this post
please visit the
Today in
Alternate History web site.
Other Contemporary Stories
Andrew Beane
Guest Historian of
Today in Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In
History That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
Facebook, Myspace and
Twitter.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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