| Sumario: | The Isthmus of Panama enjoyed for a large part of the colonial era a privileged position within overseas trading networks. The combination of a series of factors plunged it into a period of decline which lasted from the middle of the 17th century until the dawn of independence. The new political scenario outlined by her and her accession to the Republic of Colombia first then to New Grenada afterwards. This allowed Panamanians to claim republican authorities free ports as a way to regain their former commercial splendor. This demand meets the fiscal needs of the new state, which makes customs its main source of income. This article discusses the debate over free trade in the Isthmus of Panama in the first half of the 19th century. It explores their trade tradition, the importance it has acquired for Panamanians, the demands they have made for free trade, and the mechanisms they used to pressure their adoption. Likewise, he analyzes the way in which this debate contributed to giving coherence to the political project of a regional elite which used free trade to highlight the Panamanian “particularity” and to negotiate the position of the isthmus in within New Grenada.
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