On November 10, 182 the residents of Azuero declared their separation from the Spanish Empire, without sanction of the cental government in Panama City. Their declaration was called El Grito de La Villa de Los Santos (Cry From the Town of Saints). The central government dismissed the action as impotent and meaningless. However, separatist sentiment had been speading, and El Grito had been heard by the entire country. Feeling out numbered, the acting Govenor General decared Panama City's support for independence, and the military stood aside. The Panamanian people were free from Spain. Now, though, Panama was a department of Columbia. It was not long before the Panamanians grew tired of a distant, government. They made several attempts to secede. War erupted, in 1899, as a reaction to a treaty with the United States. The battle
... read more