Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

Fidel advised John never to walk to the Canal Zone, even though it was in sight. Fidel told John that Panamanian women were prohibited from prostitution, though foreign women could sell their bodies. They walked into a bar where some U.S. military police (MP) and Panamanians were. Three naked women danced on the stage. The waitresses were Panamanian, but the naked women were all foreign. They heard a scream and saw a soldier grabbing one of the waitresses' wrist. Fidel tried getting up but was told to be calm by one of the other Panamanian men sitting next to them. A man grabbed the soldier by the throat and told him "the waitresses are off limits" and to not touch the other women until they had paid them. The MP's said they would take over, and the man threw the...