Như Charlie nói, 'Bạn sống sót sau Amazon, bạn biết làm thế nào để xử lý lỗi, rắn, và nước xấu "Cùng với một người lái xe và phiên dịch, tôi đến thăm nhiều nơi đẹp và ở một số chỗ khá ảm đạm, tôi đã gặp gỡ với doanh nghiệp địa phương. và các nhà lãnh đạo chính trị và lắng nghe ý kiến của họ về triển vọng tăng trưởng kinh tế Tuy nhiên, | CHAPTER 11 Pirates in the Canal Zone The next day the Panamanian government sent a man to show me around. His name was Fidel and I was immediately drawn to him. He was tall and slim and took an obvious pride in his country. His great-great-grandfather had fought beside Bolivar to win independence from Spain. I told him I was related to Tom Paine and was thrilled to learn that Fidel had read Common Sense in Spanish. He spoke English but when he discovered I was fluent in the language of his country he was overcome with emotion. Many of your people live here for years and never bother to learn it he said. Fidel took me on a drive through an impressively prosperous sector of his city which he called the New Panama. As we passed modern glass-and-steel skyscrapers he explained that Panama had more international banks than any other country south of the Rio Grande. We re often called the Switzerland of the Americas he said. We ask very few questions of our clients. Late in the afternoon with the sun sliding toward the Pacific we headed out on an avenue that followed the contours of the bay. A long line of ships was anchored there. I asked Fidel whether there was a problem with the canal. It s always like this he replied with a laugh. Lines of them waiting their turn. Half the traffic is coming from or going to Japan. More even than the United States. I confessed that this was news to me. 63 I m not surprised he said. North Americans don t know much about the rest of the world. We stopped at a beautiful park in which bougainvillea crept over ancient ruins. A sign proclaimed that this was a fort built to protect the city against marauding English pirates. A family was setting up for an evening picnic a father mother son and daughter and an elderly man who I assumed was the children s grandfather. I felt a sudden longing for the tranquility that seemed to embrace these five people. As we passed them the couple smiled waved and greeted us in English. I asked if they were .
