Panama fever (45 page)

Bunau-Varilla had been watching the reports of U.S. Navy ships in the newspapers. He knew that the
Nashville
was at Kingston, and, according to his account, guessed that this would be the vessel sent to Panama. Calculating the speed of the craft and the distance to be covered, he estimated when the gunboat would arrive at Colón. The next day he cabled “Smith” in Panama saying a U.S. warship would be with them in two and a half days.

Bunau-Varilla's confident tone gave the conspirators new heart. In a frenzy of activity, the flag was redesigned, a new declaration of independence was penned, and Duque and his fire brigade of some three hundred young men were recruited and armed. Herbert Prescott brought his boss, Colonel James Shaler, into the plot and, realizing the importance of the railway—the only way across the Isthmus—they arranged for all the line's rolling stock to be moved to the Panama side. Shaler, a tall, white-haired seventy-seven-year-old, was a popular figure in Panama, and would later be made a “Hero of the Republic.”

As Bunau-Varilla had predicted, the
Nashville
appeared in Colón Harbor late on the afternoon of November 2. The ship's captain, Commander John Hubbard, however, was not yet suspecting anything out of the ordinary. His orders were simply to consult with the U.S. consul and report back on goings-on on the Isthmus. Nor were Colombian loyalists suspicious of the arrival of the two-stacked gunboat—the
Nashville
had been at Colón just two weeks earlier. But to the conspirators here was irrefutable proof that Bunau-Varilla and the Americans were going to deliver on their promises.

At around midnight on the same day, a Colombian gunboat, the
Cartagena
, also arrived in the harbor. On board were three generals and about five hundred
tiradores
, or expert marksmen. The next morning Hubbard went on board to be informed by General Tovar that he was landing his men. Hubbard was determined to play it by the book. He had as yet received no orders to prevent the disembarkation, and there was so far no disturbance onshore to merit his intervention. Thus, shortly after first light on November 3 Generals Tovar, Amaya, and Castro, followed by Colonel Eliseo Torres, the next most senior officer, resplendent in uniforms of yellow, blue, and gold, glittering with medals and braid, stepped ashore onto the wooden wharf at Colón, closely followed by the rest of their men.

It was a bitter blow for the conspirators. Not only was the Colombian force formidable, but the Americans had singularly failed to prevent their landing, as had been promised. Fresh panic swept the group, and even Amador considered calling the whole thing off. However, Señora Amador was made of sterner stuff, rallying the plotters and quickly devising a trap to neutralize the Colombians.

The generals were met by local dignitaries and reassured that all was well to the north and that they should re-embark straightaway. But something made Tovar suspicious, and he demanded to be taken to Panama City. Enter Shaler, to play his part to perfection.

Unfortunately, said the Panama Railroad's superintendent, there were at the moment insufficient cars to transport the troops. However, there was a special luxury carriage available which could ferry the generals and their aides across to Panama. The Colombians protested, but were reassured that their men would be on the very next train.

Once on board the car, Amaya suddenly became jumpy and announced that he was going to stay with the men, but at that moment Shaler pulled the signal cord, jumped off the train, and waved cheerfully at the generals as they steamed out of the station. Soon after, Hubbard received orders from Washington, sent the day before but delayed, instructing him to prevent the landing of any armed force, or its use of the railroad. He therefore ordered Shaler not to transport the Colombian troops at Colón, thus giving the superintendent another excuse to buy time for the plotters at Panama City.

As soon as Amador heard from Prescott that the generals were on the way, he appealed once more to Huertas. “If you will aid us,” he said, “we shall reach immortality in the history of the new republic.” If he didn't, the elderly doctor warned, Huertas would surely be relieved and sent to some violent interior province of Colombia, far from his friends and family in Panama. At last Huertas agreed to be part of the uprising, his decision helped by the offer of $50 for each of his men, and $65,000 for himself.

The generals’ luxury train arrived at Panama at 11:30, to be met by General Huertas, a military band playing patriotic songs, and crowds of children waving Colombian flags. As Tovar later said in his defense, “There was nothing that did not show the greatest cordiality and give me the most complete assurance that peace reigned throughout the department.” After a procession through the city, the Colombian generals were taken to a hotel to have a siesta.

Meanwhile Amador and Duque prepared for a mass meeting to take place in the city at 5 :00 p.m., with the fire brigade poised to arrest those who might resist the uprising and ready to distribute rifles. But rumors were everywhere, and at 1:30 p.m., the generals were awakened to be told that a demonstration was going to take place. Then a note arrived from a local Panamanian loyal to Colombia warning Tovar to trust no one.

The general roused himself and demanded to know why his men had still not arrived. While Shaler continued to invent excuses as to why the men could not be transported, Huertas took the generals to lunch. All the time, their suspicion was mounting. After lunch, having again ordered the governor, Obaldía, to organize the immediate dispatch of their men, the generals proceeded to the barracks to carry out an inspection. By 5:00 p.m., Tovar had heard reports of a mob gathering and making its way toward them. Huertas suggested that a patrol be sent out and Tovar agreed. But as the men detailed for the patrol proceeded out of the barracks, as if to pass in front of the generals seated on a bench near the seawall, they split into two columns, one marching in front of the seated men and one behind. On a command the men wheeled round and stopped, their fixed bayonets pointing toward the astonished Colombian top brass, who were told that they were now under arrest.

Tovar charged at one of the soldiers but was immediately hemmed in by bayonets. Castro also made a run for it, but was quickly recaptured, having been found hiding in a toilet stall. The prisoners were led away to the jailhouse to cries from the growing crowd of
“Viva el Istmo libre!” “Viva Huertas!” “Viva el Presidente Amador!”

In order to maintain the fiction of his noninvolvement, Obaldía was arrested. Then U.S. vice-consul Felix Ehrman sent a message to Washington detailing the successful uprising, and at around 6:00 p.m., the leaders of the revolutionary junta proceeded to Cathedral Plaza to be acclaimed by an enthusiastic crowd. Now only the small matter of the five hundred heavily armed soldiers at Colón stood between Panama and independence.

olonel Eliseo Torres, the commander of the Colombian force at Colón, had heard nothing of the goings-on in Panama City, but was becoming increasingly aggressive about Shaler's constant refusal to transport his men. Then, early on November 4, he received a letter from Hubbard informing him that the railroad was closed to all troops. At lunchtime the same day, Torres was approached by Porfirio Meléndez, the junta's man in Colón, and told, over a drink at the Astor Hotel on Front Street, about the arrest of the generals and the uprising in Panama City. Meléndez then offered the colonel a bribe if he would remove his men. At first Torres refused to believe the news, but then he flew into a rage at the treachery of the Panamanians and their American friends, threatening to burn Colón to the ground and kill all American citizens in the town if the generals were not released.

Hubbard immediately readied his tiny force on the
Nashville
and started evacuating American and British women and children onto boats in the harbor, while their menfolk were herded into one of the stone buildings belonging to the Panama Railroad. Some forty U.S. sailors and marines were landed to defend the building, which was soon surrounded by Torres's greatly superior force. At this, Hubbard moved the
Nashville
close to the wharf, causing the
Cartagena
quickly to slip away, leaving her troops stranded. The American gunboat then trained her armament on the Colombians, and a tense standoff ensued.

But twenty-four hours later, when told that a U.S. force of five thousand men was on the way to the Isthmus, and satisfied with his brief defiance, Torres agreed to leave for the payment of $8,000. The money for the bribe had to be borrowed from the safe of the U.S.-owned Panama Railroad. There was not enough, however, also to pay for the passage on a steamer, so more money had to be obtained from a local bank. This loan was guaranteed by Hubbard and Shaler, both American citizens. With the departure of the Colombians, the revolution was complete. The following day, to express their gratitude to the United States, an American Army officer, Major William Murray Black, was asked to raise the new Panama flag over the prefecture of Colón. Soon after, an official cable arrived from Hay at the State Department. As the people of Panama had “resumed their independence,” it read, the U.S. consuls should “enter into relations with it as the responsible government of the territory.”
“Viva La Republica de Panama!”
exclaimed the
Star and Herald.

he revolution had succeeded with American connivance, but it still relied on the United States to make it irreversible. The news of the uprising caused a sensation in Colombia, where the initial fury was aimed at Marroquín. His residence was pelted with stones, the police were called in, leading to the wounding of several protestors, and martial law was declared. But soon, as detailed accounts of the events became known, the anger was redirected toward the United States. A heavy guard was thrown around the American embassy and Beupré was told he should leave the country for his own safety. As Ambassador Herrán delivered a formal protest to Secretary of State Hay, thousands of Colombians volunteered to take part in an expedition to recapture Panama. Reyes threatened that unless recognition was withdrawn from the breakaway republic, the United States would have “a second Boer War” on its hands.