168,000 Days Asking Permission to Open a Port
In 1594 the town council of Panama wrote to that of Guatemala. Panama was short of the most essential goods: wheat, flour, barley, tallow, dried meat, other meats, sugar, preserves, fruits, and vegetables. All of that was in surplus on this side, and it would have sold well over there. There was something to sell. […]
Why Does No One Connect Through Guatemala?
Guatemala sits between two oceans and at the heart of the Americas, yet for centuries it has functioned more as the end of the line than as a crossroads. This essay traces that history from the ports of the Kingdom of Guatemala to La Aurora International Airport and asks what it would take to turn geography into connectivity.
Geography Gave Us Wings, but the Future Landed in Panama
For much of the twentieth century, Pan American World Airways aircraft regularly touched down on the runway of La Aurora Airport. For thousands of American travelers, Guatemala was neither a secondary stop nor a remote destination lost among volcanoes. It was a frequent stop within the air network that connected the continent’s major cities. The […]