Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama (American Encounters/Global Interactions) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Guillermo Castro (Contributor)
Key Phrases: nuclear canal, counterdrug center, nuclear excavation, United States, Canal Zone, San Jose (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[John Lindsay-Poland] tells us of ill-known truths and badly understood realities and thus helps prevent useless hatreds between two peoples who share so much common history. Panamanians must aspire to be universal if we want to survive as a people and as a nation in a globalised world, but we can only achieve that if we are authentic. On that path toward ourselves, John Lindsay-Poland has been and will be a welcome friend."- Guillermo Castro, former Deputy Minister of Education of Panama, from the Afterword "Emperors in the Jungle stands out as a most valuable contribution to understandings of the complex relationship between the United States and a tiny neighbor. It is one of the best available examples of Thucydides' dictum that large nations do what they want, and small nations accept what they must, yet at the same time a reminder that small nations are not without power-after all is said and done, Panama now owns its canal."-Lars Schoultz, author of Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy toward Latin America "John Lindsay-Poland has dedicated himself to issues of human rights and justice for Panamanians. His tireless efforts continue to motivate people and shed needed light on the truths he discovers. Emperors in the Jungle is a timeless look at the real dimensions of U.S. foreign policy." Barbara Trent, director of the Academy Award(r)-winning documentary, The Panama Deception "What is really new about this excellent book is ... an account of the use to which the US military put the occupied and acquired Panamanian land. In particular, Panama was used as a testing ground for US chemical weapons and much of this grim tale is related here... The military interventions, the US land grabs, the testing of chemical and biological weapons, the ecological damage--Lindsay-Poland has researched all this in detail and written a highly readable and important book... a text that deserves the widest possible readership."--Morning Star, August 25 2003 "An eye-opening history of the tangled, racially freighted dealings of the American government with its sometime client state of Panama over a hundred years."--Kirkus Reviews

Product Description

Emperors in the Jungle is an exposé of key episodes in the United States’ military involvement in Panama. Investigative journalism at its best, this book reveals how U.S. ideas about taming tropical jungles and people, combined with commercial and defense objectives, shaped more than a century of intervention and environmental engineering in a small, strategically located nation. Whether uncovering the U.S. Army’s decades-long program of chemical weapons tests in Panama or recounting the U.S. invasion in December, 1989, which was the U.S. military’s twentieth intervention in Panama since 1856, John Lindsay-Poland vividly portrays the extent and costs of U.S. involvement.

Analyzing new evidence gathered through interviews, archival research, and Freedom of Information Act requests, Lindsay-Poland discloses the hidden history of U.S.–Panama relations, including the human and environmental toll of the massive canal building project from 1904 to 1914. In stunning detail he describes secret chemical weapons tests—of toxins including nerve agent and Agent Orange—as well as plans developed in the 1960s to use nuclear blasts to create a second canal in Panama.

He chronicles sustained efforts by Panamanians and international environmental groups to hold the United States responsible for the disposal of the tens of thousands of explosives it left undetonated on the land it turned over to Panama in 1999. In the context of a relationship increasingly driven by the United States’ antidrug campaigns, Lindsay-Poland reports on the myriad issues that surrounded Panama’s takeover of the canal in accordance with the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty, and he assesses the future prospects for the Panamanian people, land, and canal area. Bringing to light historical legacies unknown to most U.S. citizens or even to many Panamanians, Emperors in the Jungle is a major contribution toward a new, more open relationship between Panama and the United States.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822330989
• ISBN-13: 978-0822330981
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #715,955 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book About Panama with Substance!, May 18, 2003

By	Peter M. Sanchez "Peter Sanchez" (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lindsay-Poland has written an exceptional book that brings to light fascinating information about US activities and motivations in Panama. Anyone interested in Panama and/or US-Panama relations must read this book. Rather than looking at the isthmus superficially, e.g., focusing on the Noriega crisis or the Canal Treaties, the author takes an historical view of US military interests in Panama and even globally. The book is factual, insightful and enjoyable!

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Informative but too angry, July 26, 2005

By	Ronald A. Jones - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very well researched but the author obviously has a chip on his shoulder. He takes every opportunity to blast the U.S. Government (sometimes rightfully so) but the book would be much more bearable if he would just present the facts without taking every opportunity to play-up how the upper-class Americans oppressed, exploited and took advantage of the lower-class (Indian and African workers). I was looking for a book that presented a comprehensive history but the author is just too angry to be taken seriously.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muy informativo, July 31, 2009

By	Eric Mascarin (Panamá) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John Lindsay-Poland nos repasa en este relato la historia escondida de los Estados unidos en Panamá. El libro tiene siete partes pero realmente aborda cinco temas fundamentales.

Inicialmente nos da un repaso, my breve, de la historia de la relaciones de Panamá con EE.UU. para que el lector que no está al corriente se entere. Inmediatamente pasa a abordar los cinco temas de manera separada: las pruebas con armas prohibidas en diferentes sitios de Panamá, las intenciones para hacer un canal por medios nucleares en Darién, las intenciones de establecer bases militares después del año 2000 disfrazadas con el objetivo del control de las drogas, los problemas del medio ambiente que se aumentaran con el represamiento de mas ríos junto a la creación de nuevos embalses para la ampliación del canal y la venta de los tierras revertidas al mejor postor.

El libro es claro, directo, en un tono periodístico, objetivo. Muestra claramente como los gobernantes de Panamá estuvieron de acuerdo o colaboraron cuando estuvieron informados y como muchas veces ni siquiera eran informados.

Muestra como desde 1939 se había comenzado ampliar el canal y como se esperó hasta que este revirtiera a Panamá para que fueran los panameños los que cargaran con el costo de la ampliación que mas que beneficiar a Panamá beneficia a los interés navieros internacionales, a palabras del autor.

Es un libro que todo panameño debiera leer. Hay una edición en español editada por la Universidad de Panamá en 2003, del cual se tiraron 1000 ejemplares pero que no se encuentra ni en la biblioteca de la propia universidad ni esta tienen nada que ver con su venta o distribución, es decir, hay que rastrearlo para encontrarlo (Librería Cultural). Afortunadamente en Amazon es fácil de adquirir.