On December 20, 1989, the United States invaded Panama with tens of thousands of troops. It was the largest U.S. invasion since Vietnam. The first U.S. military action since the fall of the Berlin Wall one month before. The testing ground for the Iraq wars. The U.S. invading forces destroyed 20,000 homes and killed hundreds of innocent Panamanians, dumping bodies into mass graves.
And the United States government and the mainstream media ignored or whitewashed the violence. The story told to the people of the United States was that of a tremendous success. The liberation of the people of Panama. All in the name of democracy and the so-called war on drugs.
In this episode, host Michael Fox takes us to the working-class Panama City neighborhood of El Chorrillo, which received the brunt of the U.S. attack. He meets with Panamanians who have long fought for justice and visits a former U.S. military barracks that was the first home of the U.S. School of the Americas.
This is Episode 13.
Under the Shadow is an investigative narrative podcast series that walks back in time, telling the story of the past by visiting momentous places in the present.
In each episode, host Michael Fox takes us to a location where something historic happened—a landmark of revolutionary struggle or foreign intervention. Today, it might look like a random street corner, a church, a mall, a monument, or a museum. But every place he takes us was once the site of history-making events that shook countries, impacted lives, and left deep marks on the world.
Hosted by Latin America-based journalist Michael Fox.
This podcast is produced in partnership between The Real News Network and NACLA.
Guests:
John Lindsay Poland
Olmedo Beluche
Celia Sanjur
Gilma Camargo
Grahame Russell
Pedro Silva
Efrain Guerrero
Omar Gonzalez
Edited by Heather Gies.
Sound design by Gustavo Türck.
Theme music by Monte Perdido and Michael Fox. Monte Perdido's new album Ofrenda is now out. You can listen to the full album on Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, YouTube or wherever you listen to music.
Other music from Blue Dot Sessions.
Resources:
Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama (Duke, 2003), is John Lindsay Poland’s expose on the U.S. military involvement in Panama.
You can watch the documentary The Panama Deception here.
Here are links to Democracy Now! coverage looking back over the years at the U.S. invasion of Panama: here, here, and here.
El Chorrillo Neighborhood Tour:
You can find out more about Efrain Guerrero’s work trying to protect the memory of El Chorrillo, plus his neighborhood tours, on his Instagram or TikTok. His organization is called Movimiento Identidad. Here’s the website to set up a tour.
Support Under the Shadow:
You can see pictures of host Michael Fox’s reporting in Panama City, here.
You can also listen to his new podcast, Panamerican Dispatch, on his Patreon page. There, you can follow and support him and Under the Shadow: https://www.patreon.com/mfox
