Minden Man Helped Build Panama Canal

One of the most amazing human endeavors that changed our world was the completion of the interoceanic Panama Canal in 1914 by the United States.

One of the many Americans who worked in the Panama Canal Zone was from Minden, Nebraska. An electrical engineer, George H. “Tom” Hartsough, found opportunity and eventually, an untimely death, by working abroad in American ventures in Central and South America.

Photo: At Mira Flores, Panama Canal by Juliette Passer 2014

This year marked the 100th anniversary of the official opening of the Panama Canal. The American-built waterway across the Isthmus of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was an engineering feat, then and today still.

The 50-mile passage across the country of Panama, uses a system of locks to lift ships 85 feet above sea level. The bypass route was important to the shipping industry, trimming nearly 8,000 miles from voyages between New York and California that previously had to travel clear around the tip of South America.

 
See the December 10th, 2014 Minden Courier for full article.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please note that our New York Office will be closed November 27 and 28 - our Panama office will be closed on December 1 and December 8.

Photo by Juliette Passer 2014

May you find time

this Thanksgiving

to enjoy the things

you hold closest

to your heart!

Regards,

Juliette and the NY - Panama Team

Potentially - A Walmart Distribution Center in Panama

Photo by Juliette Passer, 2014

Panama reserves supermarket operations for local companies, so there could be confusion over the news report from Prensa.com, which states that "... Through a letter signed by Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, a group of businessmen, headed by the general manager of the Colon Free Zone (CFZ), Surse Pierpoint- are seeking to attract the attention of executives at Walmart US to install a distribution center for Latin America in Panama ", indicating the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) as 'the right place'."

The move by entrepreneurs from the CFZ could be understood as a way to bolster their arguments as part of the pressure being exerted on the government for the CFZ to be accorded the same tax privileges as other zones in the country. Beyond this, it is clear that a market opening for Walmart in the large scale retail sector will be on the negotiating table, something which up to now has been rejected.

Severo Sousa, president of the Logistics Business Council, a member of the group of entrepreneurs that is driving the initiative, said "... "I always thought it was a good idea to attract Walmart, to sell them the benefits that Panama has to offer, so that they will set up here, and have it as a flagship company to attract other businesses of this type to the country."

Happy Independence Day, Panama!

Greetings,

The NY-Panama team wishes all our Panamanian friends and associates Happy Independence Day!   We share with you your Panamanian Pride and success. 

Below is an interesting fact about Panama’s independence from Colombia from the Official website of Panama    www.visitpanama.com  

On November 3, 1903, independence was proclaimed in Panama City, a decision that was immediately backed in the rest of the country, and the Panamanian society declared this territory a sovereign independent state under the name of the Republic of Panama. 

The historical document that stated this proclamation, the Declaration of Independence of the Isthmus, was written that historic morning of the third by the very leader of the revolution, José Agustín Arango, to an eminent Panamanian jurist who was a prominent figure in the country's Liberal Party and political life, Dr. Carlos Antonio Mendoza.

Tests with ships to begin on new Panama Canal locks in mid-2015

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - On Sunday, Panama Canal Administrator Jorge Quijano said the locks would likely be ready, holding water, by April or May of next year.

Photo by Juliette Passer

The 100-year-old canal, which is major global trade artery, is in the midst of a massive expansion that will allow the world's largest tankers to pass through the isthmus. 

Tests with ships will begin in mid-2015 on a new set of locks that are a key component of an expansion of the Panama Canal, the waterway's chief said on Sunday.

The expansion, which involves building a third set of locks onto the 50-mile (80-km) waterway, was originally scheduled to be completed this year, but has been delayed several times, in part due to a dispute earlier this year because of about $1.6 billion in cost overruns.

The deadline for completion is now January 2016.

"We hope to start a series of tests with the locks next year in the month of July or August," Quijano said after overseeing the arrival from Italy of a shipment of four new gates for the locks.