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Panama Bilateral Relations with Other Nations
The number of nations with which Panama maintains formal
diplomatic relations expanded during the 1970s, in part because of
the campaign to renegotiate the canal treaties and in part because
of its role as a commercial, banking, and trading center. During
the 1980s, economic difficulties contributed to slowing, but not
reversing this trend toward expanded international contacts. In
most cases, the focus on bilateral relations was on economic
issues, with political matters more frequently addressed through
multilateral forums.
Relations with Cuba have been a subject of some controversy,
both within Panama and in Panama's relations with the United
States. Panama broke relations with Cuba in the 1960s, but reestablished them in the early 1970s, and by the end of the decade,
Cuba's diplomatic mission in Panama City was second only to that of
the United States in the number of its personnel. Torrijos openly
solicited Cuban support during the canal negotiations, but CubanPanamanian relations generally have been based more on commercial
than political grounds. During the 1970s, Cuba made extensive use
of the Colón Free Zone to obtain materials that the United States
trade embargo of Cuba made it difficult to obtain directly.
Relations with Cuba have been a side issue in disputes between
Panama and the United States. Cuba has openly supported Noriega and
attempted to portray criticisms of the general as part of a United
States plot to sabotage the Panama Canal treaties. The United
States, for its part, has accused Panama of participating in the
illegal shipment of American high-technology equipment to Cuba.
Panama's relations with its southern neighbor, Colombia, have
never been close since Panama broke away from Colombia and declared
its independence
(see The 1903 Treaty and Qualified Independence
, ch. 1). Part of this coolness was a function of poor
communications; the border area is wild and thinly populated and
represents the last gap in the Pan-American Highway system
(see
fig. 8). Relations have been strained by Panamanian concerns that
Colombian settlers and guerrillas were moving into areas on the
Panamanian side of the border and by the prevalent belief in the
Colombian military that Panama was supporting Colombian guerrilla
groups.
Relations with other states of Latin America and the Caribbean
were of lesser importance in the late 1980s. There was some
strengthening of ties with Venezuela in the 1970s, spurred by the
economic resources available to Venezuela as a result of the rise
in oil prices. But the precipitous fall in oil prices in the mid1980s damaged the Venezuelan economy and reduced the Panamanian
incentive to seek any further expansion of existing ties. Panama
sought to expand its ties with the smaller Caribbean states in the
late 1970s and early 1980s. It even undertook the training of
police in Grenada. But the more active United States presence in
the area, signaled by the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the 1984
Grenada intervention, undercut this effort, which, in any case, was
limited by economic, cultural, political, and linguistic factors.
Relations between Panama and Canada, Western Europe, and Japan
were largely commercial in nature. Relations with Western Europe
were somewhat complicated by ties between West European political
parties and opposition groups in Panama. These links have been an
increasing problem in relations with the Federal Republic of
Germany (West Germany), whose Christian Democratic Party maintained
close ties with Panama's opposition Christian Democrats. Relations
with Japan have assumed growing importance, in part because of
Japan's participation on the Commission for the Study of
Alternatives to the Panama Canal.
Panama has long maintained close ties with Israel and, in 1987,
Delvalle made a state visit to that nation. Nevertheless, late in
1987 Panama indicated an interest in expanding contacts with Libya,
with which it had no formal diplomatic relations, and some
officials expressed the hope that Libya could become a major source
of financial assistance. It was, however, unclear whether this was
a serious proposal or simply a tactic in Panama's ongoing dispute
with the United States.
Panama had no formal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union
or China. In the case of China, this situation was because of
Panama's maintenance of diplomatic relations with the government on
Taiwan. Interest in expanded ties with socialist and communist
nations has, however, increased, fueled by the fact that the Soviet
Union has become the third largest user of the canal. In March
1987, Panama and Poland initiated a broad program of educational,
scientific, and cultural cooperation. That same month, the
president of Panama's Legislative Assembly visited the Soviet
Union, but Panama denied that this was a prelude to establishing
diplomatic relations. In December, Panama gave the Soviet airline
Aeroflot permission to begin regular flights to Panama, but once
again denied that it was planning to open formal diplomatic
relations.
Data as of December 1987
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