A few months before the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, this documentary production recalled that the Panamanian struggle against the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty began practically from its inception, just weeks after its signing. The rejection of that agreement was therefore not a mere whim of the youth of the 1960s and 70s, but rather the continuation of a national cause sustained by several generations.

Through historical interviews and a meticulous compilation of newspaper articles, photographs, and period films, this documentary demonstrates that the rejection of the agreement began almost from its inception. By 1904, just weeks after the signing of the Isthmian Canal Convention by Philippe Bunau-Varilla and John Milton Hay on November 18, 1903, there had already been a "strong reaction from the people of Panama against that treaty, which no Panamanian signed."

The production is one of the few surviving pieces of Revista Nacional, a newsreel dedicated to documenting the political and social events of Panama. Produced by John H. Heymann and Jorge Carrasco, it was filmed in black and white, in 35mm format, and screened in cinemas across the country during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Unfortunately, this film heritage was almost entirely lost. Following a legal dispute among Heymann's heirs, the material came under the custody of the Panamanian National Guard and was later confiscated by the United States during the 1989 invasion.
A Film Amidst the Negotiations
In 1977, to commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary, Revista Nacional produced a series of documentaries dedicated to the struggles of several generations of Panamanians to achieve full sovereignty over the territory of the former Canal Zone. The initiative coincided with a decisive moment: Panama was then moving toward the final stage of negotiations that would lead to the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

The documentary's opening images show the arrival in Panama of Ellsworth Bunker and Sol M. Linowitz, who headed the U.S. negotiating team. The two diplomats, accompanied by alternate negotiators Ambler Moss, Michael Kozak, and Geraldeene Chester, were received at Tocumen Airport by Panamanian Foreign Minister Nicolás González Revilla.

Jimmy Carter had assumed the U.S. presidency on January 20, 1977, and appointed jurist and diplomat Cyrus Vance as Secretary of State. Among his first international decisions was a review of U.S. policy toward Panama. As part of this new approach, he retained Ellsworth Bunker as chief negotiator and brought in Sol M. Linowitz as co-negotiator.

Carter's instructions were precise: the first round of talks, held on Contadora Island between February 13 and 26, 1977, was to guide both nations, as quickly as possible, toward a final agreement.

The decisive issues
The Panamanian team used that meeting to explore the true intentions of the new US administration. Crucial matters were on the table: the duration of the new treaty, the defense of the Canal during its validity and after its expiration, as well as the return of lands and waters to Panamanian jurisdiction.
Panama proposed the year 2000 as the treaty's deadline and hoped that the United Nations would guarantee the Canal's neutrality. The United States, however, maintained its opposition to this latter proposal.
The film allows us to observe, almost in real time, one of the culminating moments of a historic struggle driven by the aspirations of the Panamanian people and supported by numerous countries and solidarity movements around the world. A cause that transformed the Canal into more than just a route between two oceans: a project inextricably linked to Panama's identity, sovereignty, and destiny.

I invite you to enjoy this extraordinary piece of Panamanian documentary cinema and to rediscover, through its images and testimonies, the generational dimension of our struggle for the Canal.