Panama "failure

If the issue dug the Suez Canal faced interests of the two European powers, Britain and France, then in Latin America, the interests of Britain and the United States of America. Dreams of the lining of the sea route by the Isthmus of Panama were wandering in the minds of explorers long ago. The first four projects to build a canal were born in 1529. These projects are on the orders of Captain Hernan Cortes, conqueror of the Aztec Empire, has developed an officer, an outstanding mathematician and geographer of Alvaro Saavedra. Connect the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean and suggested that the Spanish priest Francisco Lopez Gomara. He was never in the New World, but by serving chaplain in Cortez, was well aware of overseas life. However, King Philip II godly reasoned: "What God has joined, man must not divide", and refused to ambitious ideas. At the beginning of the XIX century German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt personally developed nine projects of the channel. However, technical and financial capabilities far behind the ideas. Britain at that time completely controlled trade sea routes almost all over the globe and did not want to give a rival power advantages. While the British and the Americans bickered with each other, in Bogota, Colombia arrived two French naval officer, Armand Reclus and Lucien Bonaparte Wiese, great-grandson of brother of the famous general. They brought a message from the aging hero of Suez. It Lesseps, citing his unique experience of building a canal in Egypt has offered to build the second largest channel in the world. The French have promised that this would be a purely commercial private matter. And exactly ten years after completion of the Suez Canal in 1879, Ferdinand de Lesseps created company called the Universal Company of the Panama Canal interoceanic. While London watched by Washington and the U.S. put a spoke in the wheel of England, they swept around the finger old French diplomat. The first symbolic excavation took place on Feb. 1, 1881 in the port on the Caribbean coast. Participate in the celebrations took the legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt. But five years after her solo concert canal was not completed. Vice - President, Charles de Lesseps (son of Ferdinand), frantically searching for a Parisian high society sponsor. And found him in the face of the banker Hugh Obenderfera who coined to arrange a lottery in favor of the construction. But the permission for the event had to get into parliament. Lesseps personally visited the Minister of the Interior, suggesting official support in the election campaign, and cash assistance, but the Minister rejected the deal. Came to the rescue more flexible, Minister of Labour. Over a million francs he was ready to lobby for the bill on the publication of lottery tickets, but the MPs gave turned down. Few years have not been able to get permission. Finally, the lottery has earned, but instead of the projected 720 million francs tickets brought only 254 million. By this time, was ready hardly a quarter of the channel, and almost 300 million francs vanished, leaving the nose 700,000 small investors. In 1889, work on the Isthmus of Panama have been discontinued, but because - for scams Lesseps during the construction of the Panama Canal word "Panama" became synonymous with a major financial scandal. In 1893 Ferdinand de Lesseps against, Charles de Lesseps and Gustave Eiffel (who designed the system locks) were prosecuted. They were sentenced to five years in prison, but none of them have served time. Ferdinand de Lesseps did not even present at the trial, as there was talk of - of insanity. His song was sung, the latter years of his life he spent in the palace at Le Chenet, playing with her favorite-pet monkey. The world may know a lot of grand adventure projects change the face of the earth, but hardly the tenth part of them become a reality. Perhaps because the implementation of such plans is only for real adventurers? That such was Ferdinand de Lesseps, thanks to the efforts by the world map, there are two huge hydro. And one of the gambles, the Suez Canal, no doubt, benefited humanity, without it, in particular, the Arab oil would be today a much more expensive.