Political History
Created in 1903 with the backing of the United States, Panama came
into existence because of a well-coordinated effort to separate this
region from Colombia so that the U.S. could build a canal on the
isthmus. Upon the declaration of its independence in November 1903,
Panama promptly signed the Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty granting the
U.S. monopolistic control of the construction of a canal and the zone
around it. The U.S. completed the canal in 1914. In order to guarantee
stability of the canal zone, the U.S. has intervened in political affairs
throughout Panama's history. In 1936 and 1955, Panamanians added
amendments to the treaty that limited U.S. freedom in the canal zone.
In addition to believing that Panama did not receive its fair share of
profits from the canal, many Panamanians believed that canal zone
workers received poor treatment, the nation's commercial interests
were being damaged, and the United States' presence was detrimental
to Panama's sovereignty.
From 1903-1968, Panama was a constitutional democracy dominated
by a handful of commercially-oriented aristocratic families. A small
middle-class was constrained since it depended on government jobs.
Both the middle-class and urban labor class were unable to organize
themselves for political gains. This stratification of society continued
until the 1950s when the Panamanian military began to challenge the
commercial elite. In October 1968, despite having been elected twice,
Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid was ousted by the military for the third time.
Panama's first military government, headed by Brig. Gen. Omar
Torrijos, was established. Though his rule was corrupt and harsh,
Torrijos was a charismatic leader whose domestic policies and
nationalist foreign policy appealed to those largely ignored by the
oligarchy. Torrijos' plane crash-death in 1981 led to a renewal of civilian
rule, temporarily. In 1984, the Panama Defense Force (PDF)'s
candidate, Gen. Manuel Noriega was elected president.
Throughout the 1980's, Noriega's restrictions on media and civil liberties
created a rift between civilian elites and the military. Protests and
agitation against the government increased. In 1987, the U.S. froze
economic and military assistance to Panama in response to the
political crisis and an attack on the U.S. embassy. Noriega countered
by throwing out the U.S. Agency for International Development. By the
end of the year, the U.S. cut off all assistance to Panama and later
froze all Panamanian assets in the U.S. In the 1989 national elections,
Panamanians cast more than 75% of their votes for anti-Noriega
candidates. Noriega promptly annulled the election and started a new
round of oppression. By the end of 1989, Noriega was relying on
paramilitary forces to sustain his regime. In December 1989, President
Bush ordered the U.S. military into Panama to restore democracy and
protect American interests.
In December 1989, President Guillermo Endara and Vice Presidents
Guillermo Ford and Ricardo Arias Calderon assumed power. During his
five-year term, President Endara attempted to reverse some of the
ill-conceived policies of Noriega. Endara tried to jumpstart the
economy, bring the military under civilian control, reform the police
force, and strengthen democratic institutions. Due to the failure of
Endara to meet the people's high expectations, he was defeated in the
1994 presidential elections by Ernesto Perez Balladares. The largest
and most peaceful election to date proved Panama was making a
successful transition to democracy. Although he was a member of the
Democratic Revolutionary Party, the political arm of the military,
Balladares was able to rehabilitate the image of the Party and win with
33% of the vote. President Balladares selected a multi-party cabinet,
which carried out economic reforms and worked closely with the U.S.
on implementation of the Canal treaties. Presidential elections were
again held in 1999 despite Balladares' efforts to stop them. In May
1999, Mireya Moscoso defeated PRD candidate Martin Torrijos, son of
the late dictator, in free and fair elections. Moscoso assumed power in
September 1999 with a thin majority in the legislature.
NDI's Civil-Military Programs in Panama
NDI's engagement with Panama began when it organized an
international observer delegation led by Jimmy Carter, which
determined that Noriega had disrupted Panama's elections. In order to
examine Panama's post-U.S. invasion scenario and meet with the
country's new civilian leadership, an NDI team visited Panama in early
February 1989. This visit was to determine whether NDI should initiate
a project to help strengthen Panama's new political system.
The main concern preoccupying Panama's new democrats was civilian
control of the Panamanian Defense Forces and the conversion of the
PDF into a true public force. Vice President Ricardo Arias Calderon
requested NDI assistance in helping Panama create a public force. In
response, NDI developed a series of technical training missions to
reorient the military and empower civilians. As a follow-up, NDI sent two
teams of international experts in May and September of 1990 to aid the
Panamanian government in restructuring its national police. NDI's
expectation was that these experts would formulate specific
recommendations to the Panamanian executive and legislative
branches on how to re-orient the PDF. Using the experiences of other
countries, NDI hoped to assist Panama in creating a resource of civilian
specialists who could manage security affairs.
NDI conducted a series of consultations and workshops to familiarize
Panamanian legislators with issues of public security. It provided
technical assistance to the Justice Ministry and to Panama's National
Public Forces personnel. The teams of international experts presented
their legislative and organizational recommendations to President
Endara and Vice President Arias Calderon.
NDI's trainers recommended that Panamanian officials write an organic
law and code of ethics for the Public Forces, create a new promotion
policy, and establish a special tribunal to prosecute those responsible
for committing crimes during Noriega's tenure.
In the Fall of 1990, NDI met with various legal groups created by the
executive and legislative branches to draft a police law. While in
Panama, the NDI team also met with the head of the Panamanian
Police, a director of a leading newspaper, mayor of Panama City,
members of the legislative branch responsible for drafting and
researching a police law, one of the directors of the International
Criminal Investigative Training and Assistance Program (ICITAP) at the
Justice Department, and Vice President Calderon. During this trip, the
experts met with a special group assigned to draft the law for the
Public Forces.
NDI's technical assistance programs to new civilian leaders in Panama
laid the foundation for balanced civil-military relations by helping them
begin to build the institutions necessary to manage security affairs.
NDI's organized visits led to the publication of two reports with specific
recommendations to the Panamanian government, which were
distributed to the Panamanian Congress, political parties, the police
force and the military. The personal interest taken by the Panamanian
President and Vice President reflected both their conviction that the
work NDI was doing in this sphere was important, and that they were
supportive of the organization's programs.
Printer-friendly version
