in 1695 the Scottish Crown emarked on The Darién Scheme which was to plant a Scottish Colony in Panama. However the plan failed for many reasons including disease and refusal of aid by the British. The British promised to support the Scottish but they were at war with France and did not want to antagonize the Spainish for the Spainish of course lay claim to Panama. How would the settlement be a success? Of course it would most definetly need British support.
English not British. Seeing as Scotland is part of Great Britain, you can take it there was support from within Britain.
On the success of the colony, considering that part of the brief was trade with Africa, it was not very well situated. As for trade with the Indies, whilst it might have generated traffic across the Pacific, I would have said that the amount would not have made it commerically viable.
That was not the brief of the colony.
The location of the colony was chosen deliberately as it was one of the narrowest points in the Americas between the Pacific and the Carribean. The brief was to create a highway for trade between west and east.
It was a good idea, and was equally considered by the East India Company who as a matter of point never considered it Spanish territory until the Scots settled there and threatened their monopoly of colonial trade in the British Isles. The French tried something similar later on with their panama canal idea, which was only later completed by the Americans. In short the idea was a forerunner of the Panama canal.
It failed for various reasons, principally the Spanish forcing the Scots out twice, poor management by the company and the East India Company, which was determined to strangle the colony at birth.
For success......
1)Allow the English to buy shares in the Company(they did subscribe in otl, but Westminster blocked them from buying shares.)This gives England an interest.
2)Have Westminster support the colony.
3)A slower response from Spain. In OTL the response was quick as they were scared if the Scots became entrenched it would be too difficult to remove them from the colony. A hurricane before the Scots arrive destroying Spanish shipping in Carthegena or something to that effect should suffice.
4)Better planning from the company. In short less bibles, initially women, and wigs, more food, soldiers,carpenters and stone masons.