USA an influence of Skateboarding in Central America

In 1914 the Panama Canal was opened for trade to the world.  The possibilities for it to work was doubtful after the failure of its first design by the French.  Later then, the United States took over on the project and ever since Panama has been very influenced by the US economy,  military, culture and board sports. Americans had been enjoying since then the freedom, low cost of living and other hidden secrets that Panama had been offering. It was until 1999 when American Military Bases, Panama Canal Management disapeared by force due to an agreement made by dictator Omar Torrijos and Mr. Jimmy Carter. However, boardsports like skateboarding and surfing stayed with no signs of going anywhere yet.

The first time I saw a skateboard and surfboard (early 80’s) was because of an American neighbor. It has taken me almost 28 years to make it out of this modern jungle and into a skate park. I have been into taking surf photos around the coasts of Panama and Costa Rica for some time now but for the first time I get to shoot some real skate boarding.
Besides from seeing the level of the sport, it is also interesting to see the cultural part of it.  Ages range from young kids meaning 2 year old to late 40’s, from wealthy to poor skaters. The reality is, in some countries “in this case Panama” there are no skateparks.
Panama has a great topical climate year round and the country it self could be making more money than Switzerland. However corruption seemed to be affecting the development of people’s minor interests such as skateboarding and other alternative sports. Mayor income sources for this country are the Panama Canal “8^th wonder of the world”, 2^nd biggest financial center of the world after Swtizerland, 2^nd biggest trade zone of the world after Hong Kong, the biggest ship registry of the world and now one of the secrets to be found in the travel industry.

WHERE IS ALL THE MONEY GOING?

 Photos by: Fidel P11 ( PanamaSurfPhotos.org )

 After taking these shots and learning more about the sport I feel confident to go back, meet with a group of important skateboarding friends and makes some changes. Its time to make some things change and write new history on the book.