Panama donates to France book collection on Panama Canal's history
29/10/2008 17:27
Panama has donated to France a collection of books chronicling the history
of the Panama Canal's construction and its transfer to Panamanian sovereignty,
the director of the Panamanian Diplomats' Academy, Paulino Romero, said in
Panama City yesterday
"The Panamanian Foreign Ministry's Diplomats Academy
gave 32 samples of the edition 'Commemoration of the Panama Canal Transfer 1999'
to the French ambassador to Panama, Pierre Henry Guignard," Romero
said.
Romero told reporters that the bibliographic collection will be at the
University of Sorbonne in Paris and it will be guarded by the Contemporary
Documentation Center.
"In these volumes are the best Panamanian experiences
of the tasks from national life, as well as on national and international
politics, literature, science, education and pedagogy," Romero said.
Saying
he valued the importance of the donation, Guignard added that the books will
tell readers the history of the ties between the two countries, which are linked
to the first years of Panamanian history.
The first attempt to construct the
Panama Canal began in 1880 under French leadership. After this attempt failed,
the project of building the canal was begun and completed by the United States
in the early 1900s, with the waterway opening in 1914.
The building of the 77
km canal was plagued by problems, including disease and landslides. By the time
it was completed, some 27,500 workers were estimated to have died in the French
and American efforts.
Xinhua
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