A Line in the Sand

A line in the sand in the history of Panama, the life of Renato Aulder and the future of Reggaeton.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Every great story has a tipping point, a moment that
changes everything, and the history of Regedon is no exception.
Some call it a line in the sand. It's a
phrase dripping with meaning. The two most common uses referred
to a line that cannot be crossed, like a border,
and a point at which the consequences of having crossed

(00:22):
a line become permanent and irreparable. Some people date the
original use back to Jesus Christ, when he mysteriously drew
something in the sand to save a woman accused of
adultery from being stoned to death. More recent examples include
the defenders of the Alamo. Surrounded and outnumbered by Mexican forces,

(00:47):
they were offered a choice leave the Alamo or be slaughtered.
According to popular Texas lore, the commander took out a
sword and drew a line in the sand. Who wanted
to leave could do so. Those who were willing to
die defending the compound could cross the line and join him.

(01:09):
Then there's Fernando Pisaro, the Spanish conquistador who set sail
from Panama on an expedition to Peru in the fifteen hundreds,
only to be stranded on an island when the Spanish
governor of Banama sent ships to rescue him and bring
him back to Panama. Pisaro refused. He famously drew a

(01:31):
line in the sand and said, there lies Berul with
its riches. Here Panama and its poverty. To understand the
importance of Panama on the history of Yeton, we first
must go back to Theodore Roosevelt. As President. Roosevelt was

(01:52):
keen on turning the United States into the pre eminent
global superpower. I am not pleasing this like a matter
of I am leaving because somebody us would not be
made at Roosevelt famously put the world unnoticed when he
said the United States, in dealing with world affairs, would

(02:13):
speak softly and carry a big stick. He would get
the chance to do both. In nineteen oh three, when
negotiations broke down with Columbia on the building of a
canal through Panama. Back then, Panama was a Colombian province
in Colombia, worried about Roosevelt's true intention, turned down the deal.

(02:34):
Here's Clay Jenkinson again. So when that happened, Roosevelt flew
into a rage, and I think we can only say
it was a racist rage. He thought, who are these
jack rabbits in Colombia to try to hold up the
world's progress? And how dare they balk at our generous terms?
And so then the question is what to do with

(02:55):
Roosevelt did not take no for an answer. He quietly
parted a revolution in Panama and provided the separatists with
military cover. When they declared independence staring down a US
naval fleet off its shore, Columbia was forced into submission,
a line in the jungle was drawn, and the nation

(03:18):
of Panama was born. This is a flow, a journey
to the roots of Reyedon. My name is Lila Luciano.
I'm a CBS News correspondent and Alborecoa born and raised
in Puerto Rico, the cradle of Reyedon. In return for

(03:43):
helping to create Panama, Theodore Roosevelt wanted to lease a
slice of Panama for eternity, ten miles wide and forty
miles long, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,
and more importantly, surrounding what would be the entire Panama Canal.
Panama's new leaders quickly agreed to Roosevelt's terms, and the

(04:06):
hard work of building the canal started Shortly thereafter, hundreds
of thousands of English speaking workers were brought in from
Jamaica and Barbados and elsewhere in the West Indies. When
the canal was completed in nineteen fourteen, it was considered
the greatest engineering feat in history. Most of the workers

(04:27):
settled in Panama City or Cologne. Some stayed in this
sliver of US territory known as the Canal Zone. Like
Renato Alder and his family, we grew up an American
style of American way of living. We had on Thanksgiving,
we had Halloween, Father's Day celebration. You know, we did

(04:51):
everything like it was the United States. The zone was
completely under US jurisdiction, from the operation of the canal
to the running of civilian life. So even though Ronado's
parents and grandparents hailed from Barbados, all he knew was
the Canal Zone. There were small cities with schools, hospitals, supermarkets,

(05:12):
public transportation, and they had their armed basis, they had Clayton,
they got Howard Basis. You know, we used to see
Channel eight because it was the only channel in English,
and that channel was you know, was aired by the
the American government. The all the kids wanted to be
like Michael Jackson, and all of we wanted to be

(05:32):
like because when we put on TV, the only kid
we used to see on TV was Michael because all
the other artists was adults. It was like part of
the United States. You know, it was just like the
United States, except it wasn't. And not until nineteen seventy
nine did this reality finally dawn on Renado, the year

(05:54):
his whole life turned upside down. My grandma was hard,
you know. She told me, look, you have a Panama
You're not American, right, you know, she used to speak
that way. Hard, say, look, your father took you out
of Saint Mary's School and now you gotta go Panamanian school.
So you gotta know that you're Panamanian. You gotta learn Spanish.

(06:14):
You're going to a different environment. But Graham, but you know,
what's going on. What was going on was that the
US control of the canal zone had become untenable. In
nineteen sixty four, Panamanian protesters crossed the line separating the
canal zone to plant their flag alongside the American stars

(06:38):
and stripes. They were met by angry residents and police
with tear gas. Rocks were thrown and gunshots were fired.
After three days of violence, twenty two Panamanians and four
US soldiers had been killed. It took the US and

(07:00):
Panama more than a decade to negotiate an agreement that
would bring an end to the US control of the
canal zone. There was tension between Panama and the United
States because they wanted the canal, and you know, and
there was like in negotiation for the canal. When President
Jimmy Carter finally signed the deal, the cost of Roosevelt's

(07:21):
original treaty was not lost on him. The Panama Canal
Treaty of nineteen oh three, that treaty drafted in a
world so different from ours today, has become an obstacle
to better relations with Latin America. This opens a new
chapter in our relations with all nations of this hemisphere.

(07:45):
And this is a line in the sand in the
life of Renado Alder, in the future of Yadon. Because
in nineteen seventy nine, as the US began its long
and controversial Panama pull out, families like Renados from Barbados
and Jamaica English speaking in Black, I to pack up
and walk across the line into Panama. We was in

(08:08):
a canal zone until I was like seventeen. Then we
moved from the canal zone to Panama at r O Waho,
a place called Riabaho where a lot of Caribbean people
used to live, you know, all the people that used
to work in the canal zone. There was Caribbean from
my i Haiti, you know, Jamaica. Ri Oaho or Downriver

(08:30):
was a working class neighborhood in Panama City. But it
seemed like another planet to Renado, where I moved, was
a ghetto. You know, it was a real ghetto, you
know what I'm saying. And I wasn't a custom of that.
You know. I was born and raised in a beautiful
place house. I could go and play baseball, basketball, American football.
Now I'm in an environment I don't see any of

(08:53):
those stuff. I saw people got robbed, you know in
the canal zone that that was, you know, was far
from that. And if everything seemed out of place Denado,
everybody else was looking at him like who the hell
is he? Yeah, So when I was in school, I
made an Americano look at the American. I had fights

(09:15):
in school. I didn't want to study, you know, I
was you know, angry because you know, I wanted to
be with my friends and now with these new people.
So he didn't know it yet. Renato had actually moved
to the very place where people could understand what he
was going through through you oaha, A neighborhood made up

(09:36):
of black English speaking Panamanians of Jamaican and West Indian descent.
I made friends, and those friends made it more easier
for me. Reggae Sam Frankito, the people called him. A
lot of friends that I made that changed my life.
When I came to Panama. Renato was always the best

(09:58):
of a lot of stuff in Panama, the best dancing,
used to be one of the best guys in the area.
Playing basketball. We used to meet up in a park,
so we used to hang there, and guys and girls
and everybody used to come from all over the city.
This is Renato's childhood friend, Sam guard Biscum Daily. So
when it comes to who was the first man to

(10:19):
record in Panama, that was Renato. I know the entire history.
You know why because I was there next time on
a flow him Bud Bud and now we kid in Nobeto.
We kid Budd and Bundy Nobed. So Renado Reggie Sam
and a young crew from Rio who hustle their way

(10:42):
into the music business. Your So You Loco Put a
Flow is a production of Exile Content in partnership with
I Heard Radios Michael Podcast Network. The show is hosted
by me Leila Luciano, a CBS News correspondent, and was

(11:05):
created and produced by Vi Denny's De Julius Production and
sound design by Dixo, additional production by David Knone's. Original
music by Truko Production supervision by Alvaro Cespedes. Executive producers
for Xcel Content Studio are Nandobela, Isaac Lee and Alejandro Riwa.
Executive producers for iHeartMedia are Connel Byrne and Gisid Bances.

(11:28):
Special thanks to CBS News. For more podcasts from iHeart,
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