“Even the Lock System itself, an engineering marvel of the world, began to go bad with no maintenance or care.”
That is a totally untrue statement…a lie if you wish. Locks go through a thorough complete maintenance every 5 years. This has never stopped.
“went to army Jungle Warfare School there in 1986 and even then the “Canal Zone” was largely defunct.”
I can see why you are in the dark…eating snakes and things in the jungle. You couldn’t see the forest because of the trees.
“But the bases handed over to the Panamanians looked like New Orleans after Katrina they’d been looted and stripped of everything including sewage pipes in the walls of buildings.”
I live here. Another total lie on your part.
I was there a few months ago and I just didn’t see any evidence of bad conditions in the least.
I didn’t visit any of the former US bases, although I drove past them, and they looked fine to me.
To me, Panama is a very impressive country. In fact, I’m returning there in a couple of months to check out Boquete and Altos del Maria.