(A) ** It was the narrowest part of Latin America, so the canal would be shorter.
(B) It was the closest Latin American country to major US port cities.
(C) It had a naval base so US battleships could easily protect it.
(D) It was the only country that did not require US troop intervention.
EXPLANATIONS BELOW
Concept note-1: -The Panama Canal was built to lower the distance, cost, and time it took for ships to carry cargo between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Before the canal, ships would have to go around the entire continent of South America.
Concept note-2: -“There is too much water, the rocks are exceedingly hard, the soil is very hilly and the climate is deadly. The country is literally poisoned, ” complained senior French engineer Adolphe Godin de Lépinay. Outbreaks of dysentery and epidemics of yellow fever and malaria decimated the workforce.
Concept note-3: -Ships sailing between the east and west coasts of the United States, which otherwise would be obliged to round Cape Horn in South America, shorten their voyage by about 8, 000 nautical miles (15, 000 km) by using the canal.
Concept note-4: -The idea of the Panama Canal dates back to 1513, when Vasco Núñez de Balboa first crossed the isthmus of Panama. The narrow land bridge between North and South America was a fine location to dig a water passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.