Emperors in the Jungle

John Lindsay-Poland is Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean. He is a coauthor of Inside Panama: The Essential Guide to its Politics, Economy, Society, and Environment. He was the editor of and staff writer for the quarterly PanamÁ Update and has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, NACLA Report on the Americas, The Progressive, Covert Action Quarterly, and Fellowship, among other publications.

“John Lindsay-Poland´s book Emperors in the Jungle should be read by all Americans who do not understand why the U.S. has a serious image problem overseas and how the Department of Defense weakens U.S. policy. My experience is that the U.S. military becomes arrogant, hypocritical and unwilling to comply with treaty commitments when there is a budgetary cost involved, even if it means like in Panama, leaving behind threats to human life, health and safety.”- Fernando Manfredo Jr.,  former Panama Canal Treaty negotiator and co-Chairman of the Panama-U.S. Working Group for the removal of the hazards in the U.S. military ranges in Panama. “[John Lindsay-Poland] tells us of ill-known truths and badly understood realities and thus helps prevent useless hatreds between two peoples who share so much common history. Panamanians must aspire to be universal if we want to survive as a people and as a nation in a globalized world, but we can only achieve that if we are authentic. On that path toward ourselves, John Lindsay-Poland has been and will be a welcome friend.”- Guillermo Castro, Panamanian sociologist, from the afterword ”Emperors in the Jungle stands out as a most valuable contribution to understandings of the complex relationship between the United States and a tiny neighbor. It is one of the best available examples of Thucydides’s dictum that large nations do what they want, and small nations accept what they must, yet at the same time a reminder that small nations are not without power-after all is said and done, Panama now owns its canal.”-Lars Schoultz, author of Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy toward Latin America ”John Lindsay-Poland has dedicated himself to issues of human rights and justice for Panamanians. His tireless efforts continue to motivate people and shed needed light on the truths he discovers. Emperors in the Jungle is a timeless look at the real dimensions of U.S. foreign policy.”-Barbara Trent, director of the Academy Award®-winning documentary, The Panama Deception

• Acknowledgments ixIntroduction 11 A Platform for Control: Interventions and Army Doctors, 1856-1925 112 "Test Tube Island" 443 The Nuclear Canal 744 Playing the Drug Card 1035 The Politics of Environmental Cover-Up 1386 Market Mania 1727 Continuity and Change in the Military's Vision 191Afterword: Knowing Ourselves / Exhortation to Read a Friendly Text by Guillermo Castro H. 207Notes 211Index 253