Criticise a mother country (6)

I believe the answer is:

panama

'country' is the definition.
(I know that Panama is a country)

'criticise a mother' is the wordplay.
'criticise' becomes 'pan' (informal term meaning to criticise heavily).
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'pan'+'a'+'ma'='PANAMA'

(Other definitions for panama that I've seen before include "Hat woven from jipijapa leaves" , "Headgear for a canal" , "Hat; Central Am. canal" , "Country - hat - canal - cigar" , "Central American state" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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