参考译文：
为了巴拿马运河，巴拿马脱离哥伦比亚而独立
在二十世纪初，西奥多.罗斯福接任美国总统。他坚定地认为，美国应该在全球扩张其权力。为此，他需要为美国建立起强大的海军，而且他还要为美国海军开凿一条能够快速穿越大西洋和太平洋的航道。罗斯福决定修建这样一条航道。本周，我们就向你讲述巴拿马运河的故事。
多少年来，人们一直希望能够在中美洲开凿一条能够贯通大西洋和太平洋的运河，最合适的地方是位于巴拿马的中美洲最狭窄的地方。另一个可供选择的地方是在巴拿马北面的尼加拉瓜。罗斯福总统提名成立一个专门委员会来研究到底在什么地方开凿运河更好。工程师们认为完成那条已经于十九世纪八十年代开凿的巴拿马运河最划算，但美国必须从法国公司手里购买这里的土地和开凿运河的权利，而这笔费用是很高的，大致需要一亿多美元。所以，委员会决定，在尼加拉瓜修建运河，相比之下更为合算。这项建议提交给国会审议。
众议院很快就通过了在尼加拉瓜修建运河的建议。此时，那家法国公司降低了他们对那块土地和开凿运河权利的要价，他们认为，毕竟得点钱总比什么也没有要好。罗斯福总统对此非常高兴，他转而支持在巴拿马修建运河的计划。然而，当参议院即将开始对专门委员会的建议进行辩论时，似乎在尼加拉瓜修建运河的建议就要被通过时，在加勒比海地区发生了一次火山暴发，一座城市被毁灭，三万人遇难。很快有报道说，另一处火山也即将暴发，并威胁一座城镇。这座火山位于尼加拉瓜。尼加拉瓜总统否认在他们国家有任何火山活动，但尼加拉瓜的邮票中有一张表现的就是活火山的图片。
这张小小的邮票削弱了人们对在尼加拉瓜修建运河的支持，于是参议院转而通过了在巴拿马修建运河的计划，众议院也改变了他们此前所作出的决定，通过了参议院通过的方案。
在当时，巴拿马属于哥伦比亚的一个州。美国与哥伦比亚就巴拿马运河的谈判并不顺利，在谈了九个月后，美国威胁说要终止与哥伦比亚谈判，转而与尼加拉瓜谈判。这威胁获得了成功。在1903年1月，哥伦比亚政府与美国签署了一项条约，该条约同意美国在巴拿马开凿运河，并划给美国一块十公里宽的贯穿巴拿马的运河区域，美国可以使用这一区域一百年。作为交换，美国应向哥伦比亚支付一千万美元，另外每年还要向哥伦比亚支付25万美元。美国参议院在两个月内就通过了这项条约，但哥伦比亚参议院却拒绝了这项条约，哥伦比亚政府想要更多的钱。
为此，罗斯福总统愤怒了，他把这个问题当作世界政治的一部分，而不仅仅是哥伦比亚的主权问题。他说：“我认为哥伦比亚不能永远被隔绝于文明社会的康庄大道之外。”罗斯福准备接管巴拿马，以便修建运河。这是没有必要的。在巴拿马正酝酿一场要摆脱哥伦比亚统治获得独立的起义。美国虽然没有承诺支持这样的起义，但美国却希望巴拿马的起义能够成功。根据此前美国与哥伦比亚之间的一项协议，哥伦比亚授权美国阻止对在巴拿马旅行的干涉。现在美国利用这项条约来阻止哥伦比亚军队对巴拿马的干涉。美国派出几艘军舰前往巴拿马。
巴拿马当地的起义首领叫曼纽尔.阿马多尔（Manuel Amador），他得到了仍然拥有修建巴拿马运河权利的法国公司的支持。这家法国公司的首席代表叫菲利普.博诺.瓦里拉（Philippe Bunau-Varilla），他和一位美国律师威廉.克伦威尔（William Cromwell）密切合作，他们俩向曼纽尔.阿马多起草了独立宣言、宪法，并提供金钱。阿马多尔利用这些金钱收买哥伦比亚驻巴拿马城的指挥官和巴拿马州州长，让他同意在宣布起义那天，他就主动被捕。阿马多尔成立了一支由铁路工人和消防员组成的小规模部队。起义军准备在
曼纽尔.阿马多尔发出了起义的信号，巴拿马革命开始了。起义时有一些枪击，但没有人受伤，国为绝大多数射击都是朝天放的，以庆祝所谓的巴拿马独立。哥伦比亚在巴拿马的官员很快就被捕了。随后，阿马多尔发表讲话，他说：
“昨天，我们是哥伦比亚的奴隶，今天，我们自由了。西奥多.罗斯福总统兑现了他的诺言。巴拿马共和国万岁！罗斯福总统万岁！”
哥伦比亚要求美国帮助其恢复对巴拿马的控制，美国拒绝了。美国说，他反对哥伦比亚任何试图向巴拿马派出武装力量的企图。美国承认巴拿马的独立，并且，几乎立即就与巴拿马新政府展开有关运河建设的谈判。
美国和巴拿马双方很快就达成了协议，这份条约几乎与此前哥伦比亚参议院否决的条约差不多，然而这次，美国所获得的运河区已经不是原先的十公里而是十六公里，而且美国将获得永久控制运河区的权力。这项条约于
哥伦比亚对此提出抗议，哥伦比亚说，美国在巴拿马的所作所为是非法的。在美国国内也有一些人对此提出抗议，他们将罗斯福称之为海盗，他们说，罗斯福在巴拿马所做的一切是可耻的。有些国会议员质疑美国政府与法国公司之间的交易，并就此开展了几个调查。然而，西奥多.罗斯福却对此并不在乎，他对巴拿马运河就要开工感到骄傲，他说：“我控制了巴拿马运河区，那就让国会争论去吧。伴随着国会的争论，修建运河也就开始了。”
开凿巴拿马运河用了十年时间，它第一次通盘是在1914年8月。
也就在这一年，美国与哥伦比亚签署了一项协议，该协议就美国在巴拿马革命期间的所作所为表达了对哥伦比亚的歉意，并同意向哥伦比亚提供2500万美元的补偿。此时的西奥多.罗斯福已经不再是美国总统了，但他在参议院仍然有许多好朋友，他劝他们否决了这项协议。在西奥多.罗斯福去逝后，美国与哥伦比亚签署了另一项协议，这项新协议包含了美国向哥伦比亚支付2500万美元补偿的内容，但却不包含美国向哥伦比亚道歉的内容。美国参议院通过了这项协议。
美国干涉巴拿马引起了拉丁美洲其他一些国家的不安，有些国家并没有从美国的干涉中感受到安全。罗斯福总统说。美国不会干涉任何国家为维持其国内秩序和偿还债务的行为，但罗斯福担心有些拉丁美洲国家无力偿还他们所欠下的欧洲银行的债务，他不希望欧洲国家拿拉丁美洲这些国家偿还债务问题而插手西半球的事务。罗斯福说，美国有责任确保拉丁美洲各国如期偿还债务。他的政策就是让未来的美国能够掌控拉丁美洲国家。
欲短后事如何，请看下周分解。
简评：
什么叫强权政治？从美国掠夺巴拿马运河区和修建巴拿马运河权利这一点就看得十分清楚。
美国为了成为世界真正的强国，为了在全世界扩张其权力，他就要建立起强大的海军，而为了让其强大的海军能够迅速出现在世界各地，他就必须要在大西洋和太平洋之间修建一条快速通道，于是决定在中美洲地区修建运河。可是这一地区并不是美国的领土。怎么办？用钱去购买。
为了能够用最少的钱获得最大的利益，他同时确定了两个可选择的位置，利用这个来压制那个。先和尼加拉瓜政府谈判，当美国众议院通过此方案时，原先修建巴拿马运河的法国公司一看，不行了，如果真的在尼加拉瓜修建运河，那么他们原先所投资的一切都将一无所有，于是他们就开始自行降价。于是美国就转而采用在巴拿马修建运河的计划。
此时的巴拿马只是哥伦比亚的一个州，于是美国只能与哥伦比亚谈判，但提出的条件很高：要贯穿巴拿马的十公里宽的运河区域，而且要控制这一区域一百年，而所支付的补偿却很有限，于是哥伦比亚参议院否决了此协议。但美国不甘心。于是他们采取了另一种办法，那就是鼓动其内部分裂。
为鼓动其内部分裂，美国暗中鼓励巴拿马人起义，要求独立。美国虽然嘴上不说支持，但暗地里派遣有关人员去帮助起义首领，为他们起草好了独立宣言、宪法，并提供资金。起义者拿这些钱去收买哥伦比亚的官员。到后来，美国干脆直接插手巴拿马起义，派出军舰保护巴拿马的起义。而所谓的巴拿马起义，只有区区数百人的由铁路工人和消防人员组成的起义军，在起义过程中根本就没有怎么开火，就是开火，那也是为了庆祝巴拿马独立而向天鸣枪。因为有美国的直接支持，哥伦比亚对此除了抗议外，无可奈何。于是巴拿马独立了。
巴拿马独立后，美国就立即与巴拿马新政府进行谈判，并很快达成协议，巴拿马为表达对其主子的成分感谢，而向美国送去了一个天大的红包：运河区不再是十公里而是十六公里，使用权不再是一百年，而是永远。
美国的目的达到了，而且是那么的丰厚！这就是美国强权所的成果！
Panama Breaks With Colombia, Clearing Way for the Panama Canal
Construction on the Panama Canal in 1913 1913年，正在建设中的巴拿马运河
Theodore Roosevelt became president of the United States at the beginning of the nineteen hundreds. He firmly believed in expanding American power in the world. To do this, he wanted a strong navy. And he wanted a waterway that would let the navy sail quickly between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Roosevelt decided to build that waterway. This week in our series, we tell the story of the Panama Canal.
For many years, people had dreamed of building a canal across Central America to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The most likely place was at the thinnest point of land: Panama. Another possible place was to the north: Nicaragua. President Roosevelt appointed a committee to decide which place would be better. Engineers said it would cost less to complete a canal that had been started in the eighteen eighties in Panama. But, the United States would have to buy the land and building rights from a French company. The price was high: more than one hundred million dollars. So, the committee decided it would be less costly, overall, to build a canal in Nicaragua. The proposal went to the United States Congress for approval.
The House of Representatives quickly passed a bill to build the Nicaragua canal. Then the French company reduced its price for the land and building rights in Panama. It decided some money was better than no money at all. President Roosevelt was pleased. He gave his support to the Panama plan. When the Senate began debate, however, it appeared the Nicaragua plan would win. Then a volcano exploded in the Caribbean area. A city was destroyed. Thirty-thousand people were killed. Soon, reports said another volcano had become active and was threatening a town. The volcano was in Nicaragua. Nicaragua's president denied there were any active volcanoes in his country. But one of Nicaragua's postal stamps showed a picture of an exploding volcano.
A photo dated 1902 shows smoke coming from the Momotombo volcano, the "smoking terror" in Nicaragua 这张1902年的照片表现的就是尼加拉瓜莫莫通博火山中冒出的“可怕的烟雾”
That little stamp weakened support for the Nicaragua canal. The Senate passed a bill for a Panama canal instead. The House of Representatives changed its earlier decision. It approved the Senate bill.
At that time, Panama was a state of Colombia. Canal negotiations between America and Colombia did not go smoothly. After nine months, the United States threatened to end the talks and begin negotiations with Nicaragua. The threat worked. In January nineteen-oh-three, Colombia signed a treaty to permit the United States to build the Panama Canal. The treaty gave the United States a canal zone. This was a piece of land ten kilometers wide across Panama. The United States could use the canal zone for one hundred years. In exchange, it would pay Colombia ten million dollars, plus two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year. The United States Senate passed the treaty within two months. The Colombian Senate rejected it. The Colombian government demanded more money.
President Roosevelt was furious. He saw the issue in terms of world politics, not simply Colombia's sovereignty. He said: "I do not think Colombia should be permitted to bar permanently one of the future highways of civilization." Roosevelt was ready to take over Panama to build the canal. That was not necessary. A revolt was being planned in Panama to gain independence from Colombia. The United States made no promises to support the rebels. But it wanted the rebels to succeed. Under an old treaty, Colombia had given the United States the right to prevent interference with travel across Panama. Now, the United States used the old treaty to prevent interference from Colombian troops. Several American warships were sent to Panama.
The local leader of the Panamanian revolt was Manuel Amador. Amador had the support of the French company that still owned the rights to build the Panama Canal. The chief representative of the company was Philippe Bunau-Varilla. He worked closely with an American lawyer, William Cromwell. Bunau-Varilla and Cromwell provided Manuel Amador with a declaration of independence, a constitution, and money. Amador used the money to buy the support of the Colombian military commander in Panama City, the capital. He also got the support of the governor, who agreed to let himself be arrested on the day of the revolt. Amador formed a small army of railroad workers and fire fighters. The rebel army planned to take over Panama City on November fourth, nineteen-oh-three. Just before that date, five hundred Colombian soldiers landed at Colon, eighty kilometers away. The soldiers could not get to Panama City, however. All but one railroad car had been moved to the capital.
Manuel Amador gave a signal. The revolution began. There was a little shooting, but no one was hurt. Most of the shots were fired into the air to celebrate the call for Panama's independence. Colombian officials were arrested quickly. Then Amador made a speech. He said:
Theodore Roosevelt, left, stands with Manuel Amador, center西奥多.罗斯福（左）站在曼纽尔.阿马多尔（中）的旁边
"Yesterday, we were slaves of Colombia. Today, we are free. President Theodore Roosevelt has kept his word. Long live the Republic of Panama! Long live President Roosevelt!"
Colombia asked the United States to help it re-gain control of Panama. The United States refused. It said it would oppose any attempt by Colombia to send more forces there. The United States also recognized Panama's independence. And, almost immediately, it started negotiations with the new government on a canal treaty.
The two sides reached agreement quickly. The treaty was almost the same as the one the Colombian Senate had rejected earlier. This time, however, the canal zone would be sixteen kilometers wide, instead of ten. And the United States would get permanent control of the canal zone. The treaty was signed on November eighteenth, nineteen-oh-three. That was just fifteen days after Panama declared its independence.
Colombia protested. It said the United States had acted illegally in Panama. Many American citizens protested, too. They called President Roosevelt a pirate. They said he had acted shamefully. Some members of Congress questioned the administration's deal with the French canal company in Panama. Several investigations examined the deal. Theodore Roosevelt did not care. He was proud of his success in getting the canal started. He said: "I took the canal zone and let Congress debate. And while the debate goes on, so does work on the canal."
It took ten years for the United States to complete the Panama Canal. The first ship passed through it in August, nineteen fourteen.
A ship entering the completed Gatun Lock on the Panama Canal 一艘船完全通过巴拿马运河的加丘恩锁
In that same year, the United States signed an agreement with Colombia. The agreement expressed America's regret for its part in the Panamanian revolution. And it provided a payment of twenty-five million dollars to Colombia. Theodore Roosevelt was no longer president when the agreement was signed. But he still had many friends in the Senate. He got them to reject it. After Roosevelt's death, the United States signed another agreement with Colombia. The new agreement included the payment of twenty-five million dollars. It did not include the statement of regret. The Senate approved the new agreement.
The issue of America's involvement in Panama caused much bitterness in other countries of Latin America. Some did not feel safe from American interference. President Roosevelt said the United States would not interfere with any nation that kept order and paid what it owed. Roosevelt was worried because some Latin American countries were having difficulty re-paying loans from European banks. He did not want the issue of non-payment used as an excuse for European countries to seize new territory in the western hemisphere. Roosevelt said the United States was responsible for making sure the debts were paid. His policy led to further United States involvement in Latin America.
That will be our story next week.
http://www.21voa.com/path.asp?url=/201008/se-nation-150-theodore-roosevelt-part-three-19-aug-10.mp3
苍海一笑
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