|
Panama THE POST-TORRIJOS ERA
Unavailable
Figure 3. Dispensation of Land Within the Former Canal Zone
Torrijos's Sudden Death
Omar Torrijos was killed in an airplane crash in western Panama
on July 31, 1981. His death deprived Central America of a potential
moderating influence when that region was facing increased
destabilization, including revolutions in Nicaragua and El
Salvador. His death also created a power vacuum in his own country
and ended a twelve-year "dictatorship with a heart," as Torrijos
liked to call his rule. He was succeeded immediately as Guard
commander by the chief of staff, Colonel Florencio Florez Aguilar,
a Torrijos loyalist. Although Florez adopted a low profile and
allowed President Royo to exercise more of his constitutional
authority, Royo soon alienated the Torrijos clique, the private
sector, and the Guard's general staff, all of whom rejected his
leadership style and his strongly nationalistic, anti-United States
rhetoric. Royo had become the leader of leftist elements within the
government, and he used his position to accuse the United States of
hundreds of technical violations in the implementation of the canal
treaties. The general staff considered the Guard to be the
country's principal guarantor of national stability and began to
challenge the president's political authority. Royo attempted to
use the PRD as his power base, but the fighting between leftists
and conservatives within the party became too intense to control.
Meanwhile, the country's many and diverse political parties,
although discontented with the regime, were unable to form a viable
and solid opposition.
Torrijos had been the unifying influence in Panama's political
system. He had kept Royo in the presidency, the PRD functioning,
and the Guard united. The groups were loyal to him but distrustful
of each other.
Florez completed twenty-six years of military service in March
1982 and was forced to retire. He was replaced by his own chief of
staff, General Rubén Darío Paredes, who considered himself to be
Torrijos's rightful successor and the embodiment of change and
unity (Torrijos had been grooming Paredes for political office
since 1975). In a press interview, Paredes stated that he had
become "what some people sometimes call a strong man." Without
delay the new Guard commander asserted himself in Panamanian
politics and formulated plans to run for the presidency in 1984.
Many suspected that Paredes had struck a deal with Colonel Manuel
Antonio Noriega Moreno, who had been the assistant chief of staff
for intelligence since 1970, whereby Noriega would assume command
of the Guard and Paredes would become president in 1984. Paredes
publicly blamed Royo for the rapidly deteriorating economy and the
pocketing of millions of dollars from the nation's social security
system by government officials.
In July 1982, growing labor unrest led to an outbreak of
strikes and public demonstrations against the Royo administration.
Paredes, claiming that "the people wanted change," intervened to
remove Royo from the presidency. With National Guard backing,
Paredes forced Royo and most of his cabinet to resign on July 30,
1982, almost one year to the day after the death of Torrijos. Royo
was succeeded by Vice President Ricardo de la Espriella, a United
States-educated former banking official. De la Espriella wasted no
time in referring to the National Guard as a "partner in power."
In August 1982, President de la Espriella formed a new cabinet
that included independents and members of the Liberal Party and the
PRD; Jorge Illueca Sibauste, Royo's foreign minister, became the
new vice president. Meanwhile, Colonel Armando Contreras became
chief of staff of the National Guard. Colonel Noriega continued to
hold the powerful position of assistant chief of staff for
intelligence--the Panamanian government's only intelligence arm. In
December 1982, Noriega became chief of staff of the National Guard.
Data as of December 1987
|
