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The Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty was signed on November 18, 1903 (two weeks after Panama's independence from Colombia). Phillipe Bunau-Varilla went to Washington, DC and New York City to negotiate the terms with several US officials, most prominently, Secretary of State John Hay. The two men negotiated the terms of sale for the building of a Panama Canal and for a Panama Canal Zone surrounding the Canal. Bunau-Varilla was a Frenchman originally involved in the building of the Panama Canal under the same man that built the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps. After the collapse of the de Lesseps efforts to build the Panama Canal, Bunau-Varilla became an important shareholder of the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, which still had the concession, as well as certain valuable assets, for the building of a canal in Panama. As part of the Hay-Bunau Varilla negotiations, the U.S. bought the shares and assets of the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama for US$40 million. The Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty is also called The Treaty No Panamanian Signed, though Panama later agreed to the terms including: the United States was to receive rights to a canal zone which was to extend five miles on either side of the canal route in perpetuity; Panama was to receive a payment of US$10 million and annual rental payments of US$250,000.
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