American involvement in Panama has been long and checkered since Theodore Roosevelt, unwilling to pay the Columbian government’s price for access across the isthmus, fomented a nationalist uprising among Panamanians. Roosevelt backed Panama’s independence and then forced the new government to cede the canal zone to the US for a price well below what Panamanians thought reasonable. Finished in 1914, the canal became a source of tension throughout the century as Panamanians protested the US’ despotic control of the region and other infringements on their sovereignty including military intervention. By the 1970s, President Jimmy Carter, hoping to stabilize the canal zone, felt it prudent, even against significant Republican opposition, to sign a treaty returning the canal to Panamanians in 2000.

Strains have not only been related to the canal, but also to Panamanian policies and leadership. In the 1980s, President Manuel Noriega acquired dictatorial powers, partly because of his work with the CIA and his close alliance with the United States. He also amassed a fortune through involvement in the US drug trade. Yet, his continued rule in Panama became unacceptable for American authorities when he refused to help them fight against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Invoking the drug trade, in 1989, President Bush sent an invasion force of 27,000 into Panama to capture and replace Noriega.

Brought to Florida and not allowed to reveal all his connections with the American intelligence community during his trial, Noriega was jailed, although the drug trade was largely unhampered.