<P> As unrest in Cuba escalated in the 1890s , the United States demanded reforms that Spain was unable to accomplish . The result was the short Spanish -- American War of 1898 , in which United States acquired Puerto Rico and set up a protectorate over Cuba under the Platt Amendment rule passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill . The building of the Panama Canal absorbed American attention from 1903 . The US facilitated a revolt that made Panama independent and set up the Panama Canal Zone as an American owned and operated district that was finally returned to Panama in 1979 . The Canal opened in 1914 and proved a major factor in world trade . The United States paid special attention to protection of the military approaches to the Panama Canal , including threats by Germany . Repeatedly it seized temporary control of several countries , especially Haiti and Nicaragua . </P>
<P> As unrest in Cuba escalated in the 1890s , the United States demanded reforms that Spain was unable to accomplish . The result was the short Spanish -- American War of 1898 , in which United States acquired Puerto Rico and set up a protectorate over Cuba under the Platt Amendment rule passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill . The building of the Panama Canal absorbed American attention from 1903 . The US facilitated a revolt that made Panama independent and set up the Panama Canal Zone as an American owned and operated district that was finally returned to Panama in 1979 . The Canal opened in 1914 and proved a major factor in world trade . The United States paid special attention to protection of the military approaches to the Panama Canal , including threats by Germany . Repeatedly it seized temporary control of several countries , especially Haiti and Nicaragua . </P>
where did the us build a canal in latin america
where did the us build a canal in latin america
Panama
Panama