Historier Marixa Lasso receives William M. LeoGrande Award

Panama, 3 April 2020. Panamanian historian Marixa Lasso, currently Director of Research and Publications at the Ministry of Culture, received the William M. LeoGrande Prize, internationally known as The William LeoGrande Prize, for his work Erased: The Untold Story of The Panama Canal.

The book was recognized as the best publication about relations between the United States and Latin America during the period 2018-2019.

In a note signed by the selection committee for this prestigious award that honors LeoGrande, an expert on Latin American issues and former dean of the American University of Public Affairs, from the award-winning work "impressed the quality of research and eloquence of writing," while at the same time we noted the innovation of favoring the perspective of those living there.

Erased vividly describes an ignored part of the history of U.S. imperialism while showing how it was supported by a racial narrative of superiority to the detriment of Panamanian people.

"It's a master's studio of a revealed story that's very worthy of the prize," they commented in their communication about this prize.

To Dr. Lasso it's a great honor and a great joy to get that prize, as it's a recognition of a work that took many years of research and writing.

In this respect, the Minister of Culture, Carlos Aguilar Navarro, expressed his congratulations and shared the joy of the whole team of the institution and commented that for the country great news to see one of our great researchers put the perspective of Panamanians about the history of one of the most important engineering works in the world before the international academic world and be rewarded for that great effort.

He also emphasized that this stimulus is a significant contribution to research, culture and social sciences, as a facilitator of change in the image of Panamanian people and at the same time that of other cultures about Panama's history.