Panama City, April 15, 1856.
That afternoon, the city was full of foreigners. Ever since gold was found in California, thousands of Americans had been traveling through Panama. It was the fastest route between the two coasts of the United States: they arrived by ship on the Caribbean side, crossed the isthmus on the new railroad and continued on another ship across the Pacific.
The passengers arrived tired, hot and in a hurry. They wanted to reach California quickly and get rich. That day, about a thousand passengers were waiting for the ship to the Pacific.
For Panamanians, the railroad was something new, but it was also a problem. Before, many of them had earned money carrying travelers in boats and on mules. Now the train did that job.
Near the station, in a poor neighborhood called La Ciénaga, there were many vendors. One of them was José Manuel Luna. He sold fruit, and that day he had fresh watermelons, perfect for the heat.
A group of American passengers came over. One of them, a man named Jack Oliver, took a slice of watermelon and ate it.
Luna asked him for the price: one real, a small coin. It was the normal price for a slice.
Oliver refused to pay. He answered with an insult.
According to Panamanian accounts, Luna told him, "Careful! We're not in the United States here. Pay me the real."
Then Oliver pulled out a pistol. Luna pulled out a knife. Everyone started shouting, and people came closer to watch.
One of Oliver's companions paid for the watermelon to calm things down. But it was already too late. A Panamanian, Miguel Habrahan, grabbed the pistol from Oliver and ran off.
Within a few minutes, hundreds of people poured into the street. The residents of La Ciénaga were fed up: many travelers treated them badly, and the railroad had taken away their work.
The fight turned into a riot. The passengers hid in the hotels and in the train station. The residents went after them with stones and machetes, and there was gunfire. They destroyed hotels, a shop and the station, and they cut the telegraph line.
When it was all over, many people were dead: about fifteen Americans and two Panamanians. Dozens of people were wounded. The next day, the city was silent. The hotels and the station were in ruins.
And the cause of it all was a one-real slice of watermelon.
In Washington, the news caused outrage. An American diplomat wrote a report and called for occupying the isthmus. In September 1856, 160 American soldiers landed in Panama and took over the train station. They left three days later, without firing a single shot.
For Washington, it was a way to protect the railroad and its citizens. For many Panamanians, it was a humiliation.
But the problem did not end there. At that time, Panama was part of New Granada, today's Colombia. After long negotiations, New Granada agreed to pay about 500,000 dollars to the American citizens. That was far more than a slice of watermelon.
It was the first United States military intervention on the Isthmus of Panama. It would not be the last.
And José Manuel Luna, the fruit vendor? We know almost nothing more about him. Only that one day he refused to give away his watermelon… and changed the history of his country.