The United States as a natural and as a dangerous ally of New Granada (1810-1865)

Los Estados Unidos fueron vistos desde comienzos de la revolución independentista como un aliado natural de la Nueva Granada por su doble condición americana y republicana. Esta persistente idea explica que, ante diversas agresiones de Francia y Gran Bretaña, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera buscara comprometer a los norteamericanos durante su primer gobierno (1845-1849) con una posición más decidida y solidaria. Ello se consiguió mediante la ardua negociación, suscripción y ratificación de un tratado binacional y a través de la firma de un contrato para construir un camino carretero y un ferrocarril interoceánicos en Panamá. Esta situación de “cuasi alianza”, sellada en el momento mismo en que se descubrían las minas de oro californianas, fue interrumpida en 1856 cuando un motín en el Istmo dio pie al gobierno de Washington a formular pretensiones expansionistas. Tras un corto paréntesis antiyanqui en el que participaron por igual conservadores y liberales, las aventuras colonizadoras de las potencias europeas en el continente permitieron a este último partido renovar la fe en la asociación republicana.From the very dawn of the Neogranadian revolution, the United States of America was perceived as a natural ally of the new polity, a great nation made up of fellow Americans as well as fellow republicans. This explains why, when faced with various aggressions inflicted by French and British nationals and officials, the first Mosquera administration (1845-1849) made attempts to engage the US government in an ever more solidary diplomatic action. This was ostensibly achieved in 1848, when after intense lobbying, Neogranadian diplomats obtained a bi-national treaty, as well as a major contract with a US company for the construction of a cart-way and a railroad across the Panama isthmus (by then a province of Nueva Granada). Significantly, these efforts only came to fruition when the gold rush struck in California, so that Panama suddenly became a passageway of vital importance. However, the alliance, as it was widely perceived in Nueva Granada, received a major blow in 1856, when a popular street riot in the Isthmus was used in the US as the pretext for imperialistic attitudes. This caused a brief bout of anti-Yankee sentiment in the Bogotá press and amongst some cadres in government. Quite soon, however, the Liberal Party reassumed the old banners of procuring the goodwill and diplomatic favour of the northern colossus