Dear K Wyer Lane:

Just a note on your posting. Panama was not recognized as independent by Colombia until 1921, not 1821. The "independence" of Panama was due to the American intervention by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. It was only after the American Congress signed an act on which they (more or less) said they were sorry for the intervention and paid a sum around USD 20M, that we (I am Colombian as you can see) recognized the independence of our province.