, I found this page which goes into a little more detail about the nature of the revolt.

"While careful not to endorse the revolt, Roosevelt discreetly let it be known that the U.S. would view this as a positive development ........ As Roosevelt later put it, "While I was President I kept my foot on these revolutions… [in this case] I did not have to foment it; I simply lifted my foot."

Tony, allow me to recommend the recent biography of Roosevelt, _Theodore Rex_ by Edmund Morris. While it is what I would call a balanced and generally favorable review of Roosevelt's person and presidency, it goes into some length on the machinations and persons behind the Panama/Panama Canal "takeover" and I will say that the account came a lot closer to the case as presented by Bitt than in the account (apologia?) you discovered.

And it was a great read.