Victoriano Lorenzo is considered one of the great heroes of

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For m ...

history, although his story and motives are sometimes debated by different sectors in his homeland. Born when the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

was still a part of Colombia, which was a part of the former Gran Colombia, Lorenzo died during the

Thousand Days War The Thousand Days' War ( es, Guerra de los Mil Días) was a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902, at first between the Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party, and later – after the Conser ...

shortly after which

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

gained its separation after many different attempts dating back to 1830.

Life

Lorenzo was born sometime around the 1870s to poor campesinos in what is now the province of Cocle. He was considered a

Cholo ''Cholo'' () is a loosely defined Spanish term that has had various meanings. Its origin is a somewhat derogatory term for people of mixed-blood heritage in the Spanish Empire in Latin America and its successor states as part of ''castas' ...

, of predominantly indigenous descent and

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

cultural background. He is remembered in rural areas, especially Coclé, as an indigenous chief who continued the cause of land rights and representation; evidence thereof includes that his father, Rosa Lorenzo, had been an indigenous leader and that Victoriano spoke indigenous languages. He also participated in the state political structure as an elected official outside of the provincial capital of Penonome. After many attempts to address indigenous grievances about land rights, abuses, and economic disadvantages through the judicial and state bureaucracies, he became frustrated and allied his indigenous fighters with the Liberal cause. Lorenzo was quick to take arms at the advent of the Thousand Days War in alliance with the Liberals led in part by Panamanian

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

Belisario Porras Belisario Porras Barahona (28 November 185628 August 1942) was a Panamanian journalist and politician. He served three terms as President of Panama between 1912 and 1924. Porras was born in Las Tablas, on the thirty-fifth anniversary of Panama ...

. He led troops in a

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coast skirmish which killed a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

mayor and garnered him arms from the Liberals. He commanded his troops into battle in Aguadulce in January 1902, in which over 750 troops were killed or wounded on both sides, and his Liberal allies claimed 700 prisoners. Later that year, when hundreds of Liberal troops came from

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, Lorenzo sent his secretary, Papi Aizpuru, to meet them. Becoming one of the most wanted men by the Colombian central government, General Lorenzo and his wife, Lorenza Ibarra, led his soldiers to a base in the mountains known as La Trinchera, where he turned to

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...

to advance his cause, and averted many assassination attempts by Conservatives. The end of the Thousand Days War resulted in a defeat for the Liberals. General

Benjamín Herrera Benjamín Herrera Cortés (18 October 1853 – 29 February 1924) was a Colombian politician and general, born in Cali, Colombia. In 1875, while he was a student at the University of Cauca, Herrera joined the liberal army under César Conto to ...

, who had previously fought alongside Lorenzo in Aguadulce, signed a peace treaty with the Conservatives. Victoriano Lorenzo and his followers refused to give up their arms and insisted on continuing their struggle. After Herrera ordered his arrest, Lorenzo was lured into an ambush. Victoriano Lorenzo was executed on May 15, 1903 at the Plaza Francia, a tall sea wall, on the side facing Amador. Panama separated from Colombia less than seven months later. Lorenzo is buried in the Amador Cemetery. The Panamanian public was greatly dismayed by Lorenzo's execution. Public disapproval at this execution resulted in this being the last recorded execution in Panama. It was a factor leading the Liberals to accept Panama’s separation from Colombia, and led to the disappearance of Conservatives from Panamanian politics for some years thereafter. Many indigenous people in Panama understand his assassination as the defeat of their autonomous land rights and access to representation in the Panamanian state structure.

Legacy

Lorenzo became a national legend in Panama. Today, several monuments and plaques exist in Cocle and Veraguas in Lorenzo's honor, and official events celebrating his life and remembering his execution are held both at the commemoration of his death and on the November 3 Separation Day. Panama's controversial figure

Hugo Spadafora Hugo Spadafora Franco (September 6, 1940 – September 13, 1985) was an Italian and Panamanian physician and guerrilla fighter in Guinea-Bissau and Nicaragua. He criticized the military in Panama, which led to his murder by the government of Ma ...

organized a contingent of his countrymen to fight against Nicaragua's

Somoza The Somoza family ( es, Familia Somoza) is a former political family that ruled Nicaragua for forty-three years from 1936 to 1979. Their family dictatorship was founded by Anastasio Somoza García and was continued by his two sons Luis Somoza D ...

regime in 1976 known as the Victoriano Lorenzo Brigade. On January 30, 1966, the Panamanian National Assembly formally declared his execution unjust. In 2003, Panama City's Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro ( PRD) also issued a formal proclamation of Lorenzo's innocence.

Carlos Francisco Chang Marín Carlos Francisco Chang Marín or Changmarín (February 26, 1922 – December 5, 2012) was a Panamanian folklorist, painter, musician, journalist, activist and writer of poetry, essays and children's literature. His writing, which has been descr ...

, the Panamanian poet and novelist alluded to Lorenzo in almost all his works in an effort to place him as a founding father of Panama. To Chang Marín, Lorenzo was the first true Panamanian whose life story and identity parallel that of Panama as a nation.

Life

Legacy

References

Further reading