Panama
Country in Central America, on a narrow isthmus between the Caribbean
and the Pacific Ocean, bounded W by Costa Rica and E by Colombia.
Government
The constitution was revised 1983, when a new, single-chamber legislative
assembly of 72 members, elected by universal suffrage for a five -year
term, was created. The president, similarly elected for a five- year
term, is assisted by two elected vice presidents and an appointed cabinet.
The country is divided into nine provinces, each with its own governor,
appointed by the president. There are also three Indian reservations,
which enjoy a high degree of self-government.
History
Panama was visited by Christopher Columbus 1502. Vasco Núñez de Balboa
found the Pacific from the Darien isthmus 1513. Spanish settlements
were sacked by Francis Drake 1572-95 and Henry Morgan 1668-71; Morgan
destroyed the old city of Panama, which dated from 1519. Remains of
Fort St Andrews, built by Scottish settlers 1698-1701, were discovered
1976. Panama remained part of the viceroyalties of Peru and New Granada
until 1821, when it gained independence from Spain; it joined Gran Colombia
1822.
Panama achieved full independence 1903 with US support. At the same
time the USA bought the rights to build the Panama Canal (opened 1914)
and was given control of a strip of territory 16 km/10 mi wide, known
as the Canal Zone, in perpetuity. Panama was guaranteed US protection
and an annuity. In 1939 Panama's protectorate status was ended by mutual
agreement, and in 1974 the two countries agreed to negotiate an eventual
transfer of the canal to Panama. In 1977 two treaties were signed by
Panama's president (1968-78), General Omar Torrijos Herrera, and US
president Carter. One transferred ownership of the canal to Panama (effective
from 1990) and the other guaranteed its subsequent neutrality, with
the conditions that only Panamanian forces would be stationed in the
zone, and that the USA would have the right to use force to keep the
canal open if it became obstructed.
The 1980s saw a deterioration in the state of Panama's economy, with
opposition to the austerity measures that the government introduced
to try to halt the decline. In the 1984 general election, after a close
result, Dr Nicolás Ardito Barletta, the Democratic Revolutionary Party
(PRD) candidate, was declared president, but in 1985 he resigned amid
speculation that he had been forced to do so by the commander of the
National Guard. Relations between Panama and the USA deteriorated with
the departure of President Barletta, and the Reagan administration cut
and later suspended its financial aid. Barletta was succeeded by Eric
Arturo del Valle, but the country was, from 1983, effectively ruled
by the army commander in chief, General Manuel Noriega.
Although the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Canal Treaties specified that US
forces in Panama were present purely to defend the canal, Noriega cooperated
in allowing the US to use Panama as an intelligence, training, resupply,
and weapons base for the Reagan administration's campaigns in Nicaragua
and El Salvador.
In 1987 Noriega was accused of corruption, election rigging, involvement
in the cocaine trade, and the murder of a political opponent. Noriega's
forces were allegedly responsible for up to a dozen political killings
between 1983 and 1989. Political parties, labour and student unions,
and business groups united as the National Civic Crusade to campaign
for his removal; demonstrations were suppressed by riot police. In July
1987 Noriega successfully resisted calls for his removal, despite the
suspension of US military and economic aid. He declared the May 1989
assembly elections invalid and in Sept Francisco Rodríguez, with army
backing, was made president. In the following month an attempted coup
against Noriega was put down.
In Dec 1989, US president Bush ordered an invasion of the country with
the intent of arresting Noriega. Several hundred people were killed
during the operation. Noriega sought refuge in the Vatican embassy but
eventually surrendered and was taken to the USA, where he was convicted
1992 of charges relating to drug trafficking. Guillermo Endara became
president and worked to balance Panama's aims against pressures from
the USA, its most important partner, in such areas as banking. In Oct
1991 an attempted antigovernment coup by former officers loyal to Noriega
was thwarted. Constitutional amendments approved by the assembly 1991
included abolition of the army and, although this was rejected in a
referendum 1992, in 1994 the army was formally banned as a constitutional
entity. A withdrawal date of 1999 was set for US troops stationed in
Panama since the 1989 invasion. In May 1994 Ernesto Pérez Balladares
of the centre-left Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) was elected
president.
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