The 20-year Treaty transition period was a period of significant changes and impact not only in Panama but throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

It was an era initially of bloody insurgencies (Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru), the scourge of drug trafficking emanating from the Andean Ridge countries of South America and spreading in different directions (much of it to the United States) and its insidious corruption of many democratic institutions in several countries, and the rampant disregard for human rights by some of the militaries in the past -- as well as by insurgents and paramilitaries -- among other serious problems, including poverty.

But the pendulum had begun to swing the other way half way through that period. Democracy was restored in Panama in 1989 (unfortunately had to be done by the U.S. military) and in Nicaragua in 1990 (when the Sandinistas were surprisingly voted out of power and accepted defeat at the polls). Insurgencies in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua petered out with peace accords taking root and holding and the insurgency in Peru tamed.

Today throughout the Western Hemisphere democratically elected governments rule in all countries except Cuba -- a far cry from 20 years ago when much of the region (including Panama) was under dictatorships. Over the past few years there has been a growing respect for key democratic values, such as the rule of law, human rights, and civilian governance.