PANAMA CITY — Residents like to joke that this city of high-rise condos and ocean promenades is a lot like Miami or Los Angeles except that more English is spoken here.
Four years after the last U.S. troops pulled out and Panamanians gained control of the canal that is their most important national asset, the Yankee footprint here remains deep and surprisingly welcome.
Although anti-American sentiment is on the rise in much of Latin America, Panamanians heartily embrace their onetime occupiers' values and symbols, from language to music and fashion -- and the almighty dollar.
"The motto here today is 'Gringo come back,' " said Tomas Cabal, a TV commentator and English professor. "Panamanians would like to see American troops come back and build a base on the Colombian border."
Panama has had no army of its own for the last dozen years. The Panama Defense Forces were disbanded three years after a 1989 U.S. invasion ousted the last military strongman, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, in an exercise of regime change for which Panamanians, by and large, remain gushingly grateful.
"George Bush is a great leader! He got rid of the Pineapple [a Noriega nickname], and now he's gotten rid of Saddam Hussein," cabdriver Manuel Garcia said, lumping together the father-and-son presidencies as if they were one.
The U.S. military action in Iraq is a point of political tension between Washington and many countries in Latin America, from staunch allies such as Mexico and Chile to historically adversarial Cuba. Panamanians, however, keep their eyes on the bottom line more than the front lines, Cabal said.
The country's best and brightest benefited from generous scholarship programs that sent thousands of Panamanians to U.S. universities. Most of today's business and political leaders, including President-elect Martin Torrijos and canal administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta, picked up American habits as well as degrees, forging lifelong affinities for U.S. baseball teams, Fourth of July barbecues and fast food.
A love-hate relationship existed over the decades after the canal opened in 1914, with Panamanians resentful of U.S. control of the waterway and the 12-mile-wide Canal Zone that was fenced off from the rest of their country. On the other hand, the U.S.-built waterway lifted the country from banana republic to global trade and maritime player. When the canal reverted to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, the only significant thorn in the relationship fell away.
