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Living And Investing In Panama - What To Look Out For
By The Panama Gringo | May 27, 2007
It would be very hard for anyone today to imagine what the Panama Canal Zone was like in its heyday, which would have been in the 1940s and 50s. It was after the Suez Crisis of 1956 when Egypt took control of its Canal that the whole question of sovereignty over the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone began to change: you could say the whole process of decolonization in the developing world which was strongly backed by the U.S. after WWII, put an end to America’s oldest colony. But while the Canal Zone was in existence it can’t be denied that it was the most stunning commune ever built: the planning of the Canal Zone was like something straight from the imagination of Walt Disney. With its beautiful streets, trees, housing, public pools, lakes, and jungle, it was a testament to America’s will to power at the turn of the 20th century. And the atmosphere within the Zone was like that of an affluent country club: the perfectly cut grass and the shade of the large mahogany trees made one feel lucky and privileged to have been let through the door of this little paradise. The beauty of the place was so complete that those who grew up in it felt superior not only to Panamanians, but even more so to mainland Americans, for in America after the Second World War maids and servants disappeared from most households and life in general became more equalitarian – all of these changes never came to the Canal Zone. The Zone was built at a time when equality and quality were opposed ideas.
Most of the people who first came to work on the Canal and to live permanently within the Canal Zone were Southern Baptists. And the secretive and closed nature of the American South was easily transplanted to the Canal Zone. If you came to the Zone later on, say, in the 1960s, you had to work hard to be accepted as a true Zonian (the name for those that lived in the Zone). There was no private property in the Zone - all property was owned by the U.S. government. And the U.S. government took very good care of those who lived within the Zone: there was a phone number to dial in order to have your lawn mowed, a picture hung on your wall or a window fixed. Telephone calls were free; if you had a problem with your plumbing, you called the plumbing department; electricity meters did not exist, families were given a one-month vacation to the States with airfare paid by the U.S. government. All services and repairs were paid for by the U.S. government. And those that grew up in the Zone were normally given preference for job openings so that generations would settle in the Zone.
June 25th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I am american citizen and I am a dentist graduated in Cuba in 1986. My family want to be relocated in Panama to invest and open a dental practice there. If this posible and what I have to do legaly. Thanks