The Panama canal almost ended up in Nicaragua…
Back in 1902, as the French were grinding down in their ill-fated Panama canal effort, powerful business forces here in the US were pushing our government to blast our own shipping shortcut– through Nicaragua. The French were anxious to cut their losses in Panama after years of struggle and tragedy far from home. They hoped to entice the adventurous US President Theodore Roosevelt into taking the disastrous headache off their hands. Their lobbyist, an agent of the French Panama Canal Company in Washington, was named Philippe Banua-Varilla. The initial price tag for the whole Panama bundle was reportedly $40 million. Unfortunately for the Panama crowd the US Congress was leaning strongly toward the Nicaraguan plan, in fact the House voted in favor of building the canal in Nicaragua. It seemed a virtual shoe-in that the Senate would follow suite. The French reduced the price out of desperation but prospects for success appeared dim.
