1968 Panamanian coup d'état
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The 1968 Panamanian coup d'état was the military coup that took place in the Republic of Panama on October 11, 1968 when the
National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...
, led by Major
Boris Martínez Boris Néstor Martínez Salazar was a Panamanian military officer of the former National Guard. He spearheaded the 1968 Panamanian coup d'état, which overthrew president-elect Arnulfo Arias Madrid, who had only been in office for eleven days ...
, Lieutenant Colonel Jose Humberto Ramos,
Rubén Darío Paredes Rubén Darío Paredes del Río (born 11 August 1933) is a Panamanian army officer who was the military ruler of Panama from 1982 to 1983. Colonel Paredes came to power after the displacement of Colonel Florencio Flores, due to the instability o ...
and other military officers overthrew President
Arnulfo Arias Arnulfo Arias Madrid (15 August 1901 – 10 August 1988) was a Panamanian politician, medical doctor, and writer who served as the President of Panama from 1940 to 1941, again from 1949 to 1951, and finally for 11 days in October 1968. Throu ...
, who was elected in the May 12 general election and assumed office on October 1.


Coup

On Friday, October 11, 1968 the
National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...
deposed President
Arnulfo Arias Arnulfo Arias Madrid (15 August 1901 – 10 August 1988) was a Panamanian politician, medical doctor, and writer who served as the President of Panama from 1940 to 1941, again from 1949 to 1951, and finally for 11 days in October 1968. Throu ...
, who was in a movie theater in
Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...
. Upon learning of the events, he took refuge in the
Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the ter ...
under the control of the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
. Major
Boris Martínez Boris Néstor Martínez Salazar was a Panamanian military officer of the former National Guard. He spearheaded the 1968 Panamanian coup d'état, which overthrew president-elect Arnulfo Arias Madrid, who had only been in office for eleven days ...
(from
Chiriquí Province Chiriquí () is a province of Panama located on the western coast; it is the second most developed province in the country, after the Panamá Province. Its capital is the city of David. It has a total area of 6,490.9 km², with a population ...
) and Lieutenant Colonel Jose Humberto Ramos (from
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
,
Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&nb ...
) commanded the coup. The "Provisional Junta of Government", led by colonels
José María Pinilla Fábrega José María Pinilla Fábrega (November 28, 1919 – August 10, 1979) was Chairman of the Provisional Junta of Panama from October 12, 1968 to December 18, 1969. References 1919 births 1979 deaths Presidents of Panama Leaders ...
and
Bolívar Urrutia Parrilla Colonel Bolívar Urrutia Parrilla (1 December 1918 – 2 June 2005) was a Panamanian soldier and former President of Panama along with José María Pinilla Fábrega from 1968 to 1969. Biography Urrutia was a Panamanian soldier who commanded, ...
, would be imposed.El golpe de estado del 11 de octubre de 1968
– Panamá Vieja Escuela
On October 12, the newspaper '' El Mundo'' (the only one which circulated that day) indicated that a
military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
took power, without mentioning the names of its members, and that National Guard troops with machine guns surrounded the residence of Arnulfo Arias, who managed to take refuge in the Panama Canal Zone. The newspaper also reported that sporadic shots were heard "in the
slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...
areas of Panama City," while the director of
Hospital Santo Tomás Hospital Santo Tomás (HST) ('Saint Thomas Hospital'), is a public hospital in Panama City. It was founded in 1703. History The first written mention of HST was on April 11, 1703, in a letter by Juan de Argüeyes, the Bishop of Panama City to ...
stated that a man and a woman were shot and wounded. The newspaper warned that all civil rights had been suspended. During 1968, guerrilla activity was registered in the urban area and in the interior of the country by the ''Federación de Estudiantes de Panamá'' and other organizations, as well as supporters of deposed President Arias. There were military acts against the National Guard, the closing of newspapers and the development of the issue of pamphlets and clandestine writings.


Rise of Torrijos and aftermath

Having received news of the coup while in the Panama Canal Zone, Lieutenant Colonel
Omar Torrijos Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard and military leader of Panama from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, ...
and a few officers, including businessman
Demetrio B. Lakas Demetrio Basilio Lakas Bahas (August 29, 1925 in Colón, PanamaNovember 2, 1999 in Panama City) was the 27th President of Panama from December 19, 1969 to October 11, 1978. Early life and education The son of Greek immigrants, Lakas was born in ...
, sought to re-establish some form of civilian rule, even attempting to install President Arias' vice-president,
Raul Arango Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
as the new president, much to Martínez's dismay. Although the "Provisional Junta of Government" was appointed, Martinez and Torrijos were the true leaders from the beginning. Soon after the coup, Torrijos was promoted to full colonel and named commandant of the National Guard. They barred all political activity and shut down the legislature. They also seized control of three newspapers owned by President Arias' brother, Harmodio and blackmailed the owners of the country's oldest newspaper, ''
La Estrella de Panamá ''La Estrella de Panamá'' is the oldest daily newspaper in Panamá. The newspaper originally began in 1849 as a Spanish-language translation insert of an English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may a ...
'', into becoming a
government mouthpiece Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to Social influence, influence or persuade an audience to further an Political agenda, agenda, which may not be Objectivity (journalism), objective and may be selectively presenting facts to en ...
. With enough opposition against Martinez including from the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Torrijos ousted and exiled Martínez and Jose Humberto Ramos to
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
on February 23, 1969, nearly four months after the initial coup. Torrijos went on to rule Panama as the ''de facto'' military dictator until his death in a
plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
on July 23, 1981.


See also

* History of Panama


References


Bibliography

* Jasón Pérez, Brittmarie, En Nuestra Propias voces; Panamá Protesta 1968–1989, Primera Edición, Editado por la Corporación La Prensa, Impreso LITHO, Editorial Chen S.A


External links

*
Breve análisis de las causas del golpe militar en Panamá (1968)
*
Artículo en la Página electrónica del PRD
{{DEFAULTSORT:1968 Panamanian coup d'etat Military coups in Panama History of Panama Political history of Panama Military history of Panama 1968 in Panama October 1968 events in North America Conflicts in 1968 1960s coups d'état and coup attempts