Afro-Panamanian
In 1904 when the construction of the Panama Canal was taken over by the United States for the failure of the French company, will again resort to the West Indian worker. Although between 1904 and 1914 the vast majority of Afro-West Indians who arrived in Panama did a one-year contract with the idea of returning to their home islands once the offshore project, after construction of the canal many Afro-Antillean stayed in Panama. Afro-West Indians who remained in Panama many got jobs in the Canal Zone and became the largest immigrant group in Panama. On the subject of Afro-Antillean Panama, Leslie B. Rout said that when the canal was opened in 1914, some 20,000 African-West Indians remained in Panama.
Panama–United States relations
In 2015, former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli fled to the United States and asked for asylum. Despite a Panamanian request for extradition on wiretapping charges, Martinelli was only arrested in June 2017 and extradited in June 2018. The delay caused critics in Panama to question about American interference. The United States also worked against improving relations between Panama and China. When a Chinese container ship became the first ship to pass through the new Panama Canal locks in June 2016, US Ambassador John D. Feeley arranged for a US Navy ship to be stationed in view of the Chinese ship. While Feeley expressed concerns about Panamanian plans to establish diplomatic relations with China, Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela denied that anything was happening. Negotiations were held in Madrid and Beijing to escape surveillance by the US Embassy, and the US Ambassador was only told one hour before the public announcement. Ambassador Feeley also persuaded Panama's Security Ministry to deny the Chinese company Huawei a contract for communications technology, which was handed to the US company General Dynamics.The U.S. Embassy in Panama is in Panama City, Panama. In 1938, the site in Avenida Balboa was leased from the Government of Panama for 99 years. The chancery building was constructed under the supervision of the Foreign Buildings Office of the Department of State in 1941. The total cost of the land and construction was $366,719. The first diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Republic of Panama was established in 1904, the year after Panama achieved independence from Colombia on November 3, 1903. The first American Minister was William L. Buchanan of Covington, Ohio. For many years, The American Legation was for many years located at the corner of Central Avenue and Fourth Street. It was raised to Diplomatic mission status in 1939 and moved to its current location on April 2, 1942. The United States first established a consular office in Panama in 1823 when Panama was a department of Colombia. It became a Consulate General on September 3, 1884 and was combined with the Embassy on April 6, 1942. Earliest available records of the Consulate date from 1910 when the Consulate was located in the Diario de Panama Building near the Presidential Palace. It was then moved to the Marina Building across from the Presidential Palace. It subsequently moved to several other buildings in Panama City, before coming to its current location in Building 783, Clayton. There is also a virtual post in Colon.