Panama (an Indian word meaning "an abundance of fish") was first explored in 1501 by Rodrigo de Bastidas. A year later, Christopher Columbus visited the isthmus and established a short-lived settlement in the Darien; the city of Colon was later named for him. In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the isthmus and discovered the Pacific Ocean. Following establishment of the old city of Panama (Panama Viejo) on the Pacific Ocean in 1519 by the Spanish governor Pedrarias "The Cruel," and the dispatch of expeditions into Peru and Central America, the narrow area surrounding the present Panama Canal became a vital link in the Spanish colonial empire. Gold and silver from the South American colonies moved northward by ship to Panama Viejo; was hauled across the isthmus by Indians, mules, and small boats--at first to the settlement of Nombre de Dios and later to the neighboring Portobello harbor on the Caribbean Sea; and loaded aboard ships bound for Spain. The trail became known as the Camino Real, or Royal Road.
During the colonial period (1538-1821), Panama was ruled by governors appointed by the king of Spain. Although after 1567 Panama was attached to the Viceroyalty of Peru, it retained an independent audiencia or court of justice. The gold and silver drew attacks on land and at sea by buccaneers, among them Sir Francis Drake (who was buried at sea off Portobelo). One pirate attack by Henry Morgan sacked and destroyed Panama Viejo in 1671; the present city of Panama arose on a site a little further to the west. Subsequently, Panamanian trade and prosperity slowly declined throughout the 18th century.
Panama won independence from Spain in 1821 and thereafter joined the Republic of Greater Colombia. The 1826 Congress of Panama, sponsored by Simon Bolivar and attended by Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Peru (U.S. representatives were named but arrived late), was an early but abortive attempt at regional federation. In the following years, there were three unsuccessful Panamanian attempts to secede from Colombia.
Land crossing of the isthmus became a route between the U.S. east and west coasts by the time of the Gold Rush. In 1855, a railway, constructed by a New York consortium, linked the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, speeding travel to California.
A trans-isthmian canal had been a dream since the beginning of Spanish colonization. From 1880 to 1900, a French company, under Ferdinand de Lesseps, attempted unsuccessfully to construct a sea-level canal on the site of the present Panama Canal. In November 1903, after Colombia rejected a treaty permitting the United States to build a canal, Panama proclaimed its independence and concluded the Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty with the United States. In 1914, the United States completed the existing 83 kilometer (52-mi.) lock canal, in a U.S.-administered Canal Zone extending 8 kilometers (5 mi.) on each side of the waterway. Under the 1903 treaty, Panama retained sovereignty in this area, but the United States exercised all the rights, powers, and authority that it would have possessed had it been sovereign of the territory. This arrangement continued until entry into force of the new Panama Canal Treaties on October 1, 1979.
A democratic, constitutional system of government--in which a commercially oriented oligarchy predominated--prevailed from independence in 1903 to 1968. On October 11, 1968, Arnulfo Arias Madrid, previously elected and ousted twice, was again ousted as president by the National Guard after only 10 days in office. A provisional junta government was established, and Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera emerged as Commander of the National Guard and principal power in the junta government.
Although the military continued to dominate the political system, elements of constitutional government were restored in October 1972 following elections for a National Assembly of Community Representatives, which approved a revision of the 1946 constitution and elected Demetrio Lakas as president. The 1972 constitution vested temporary extraordinary executive powers in Gen. Torrijos for 6 years; when these powers expired on October 11, 1978, a newly elected National Assembly elected Dr. Aristides Royo to succeed Lakas. Royo resigned and was succeeded in 1982 by his vice president, Ricardo de la Espriella. In February 1984, de la Espriella resigned and was succeeded by Vice President Jorge Illueca, who served until October.
Formal constitutional democracy was fully restored in 1984 for the first time since 1968. In practice, however, the military, despite constitutional proscriptions on their political activity as an institution, continues to dominate national politics. In May 1984, direct popular presidential elections were held following a revision of the constitution in 1983. In a closely contested presidential race marked by irregularities and charges of fraud, Dr. Nicolas Ardito Barletta, running on the pro-military UNADE coalition slate, was declared winner over Arnulfo Arias, who ran for his fifth time. Barletta was inaugurated in October 1984 for a 5-year term, and resigned in September 1985, elevating his First Vice President, Eric Arturo Delvalle, to the presidency. Progovernment parties also won a majority of seats in concurrent elections for a new Legislative Assembly that were tainted by charges of corruption; opposition parties won a sizable minority.
In June 1987, the political opposition organized widespread antigovernment demonstrations. Prompted by government restrictions on media and civil liberties, more than 100 business, civic, and religious groups formed a loose coalition called the Civic Crusade that functioned as the focal point of antigovernment activity throughout the summer of 1987. The indictment of the Commander of the Panama Defense Forces (PDF), Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, in U.S. courts in February 1988, sharpened the political crisis within Panama and tensions between Panama and the United States. In early March, President Delvalle's attempt to remove Noriega as PDF Commander led to a government takeover by the PDF and Noriega-dominated forces within the Legislative Assembly. An abortive coup by anti-Noriega elements within the PDF in mid-March was followed by a series of economic strikes organized by the crusade. Opposition leaders and the U.S. Government called for Noriega's departure as a precondition for a return to constitutional government and the establishment of a civilian, democratic political order. Although Delvalle will remain Panama's constitutional president until his term ends in September 1990, Gen. Noriega continues to consolidate his power at the expense of Panama's normal economic and political life.
Current Political Conditions
Panama's constitution, as amended in 1983, separates the government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The legislative branch is composed of a 67-member Legislative Assembly elected from different regions of the country. The executive branch is headed by a president elected to a 5-year term by direct popular election. The judicial branch is organized under a nine-member Supreme Court and includes the other tribunals and municipal courts, as well as an autonomous Electoral Tribunal, which supervises voter registration and deals with political party and election law activities.
Even during the period of Torrijos' special powers as "chief of government," Panama's cabinet under President Lakas was predominantly civilian. When Torrijos' special powers expired, the powers to appoint cabinet ministers, conduct foreign policy, and approve contracts returned to the office of the president. The constitution, however, gave the general staff of the National Guard an important governmental role, making it a virtual equal with the three civilian branches. The 1983 amendments eliminated this special role for the military, which was redesignated the Panama Defense Forces in a September 1983 revision of its 30-year old organic law.
In March 1969, the junta declared a formal moratorium on organized political activity and the legal extinction of all parties, pending revision of the electoral code and restructuring of the party system. Beginning with the national debate on the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977, restrictions on political activities were relaxed considerably. That debate was wideranging and concerned not only the treaties but also the government and its policies. After the October 23, 1977, plebiscite on the treaties, laws restricting freedom of the press and assembly were repealed; the right to trial in all criminal cases was restored; political exiles were allowed to return to Panama; and political parties recovered legal status and became active again. Currently, Panama has a rather fragmented multiparty system; some 16 parties took part in the 1984 elections. The largest parties are the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD--the main progovernment party) and the Authentic Panamenista Party (the major opposition party). Each political party must have at least 30,000 members in order to acquire full legal status.
Gen. Torrijos' death in 1981 deprived Panama of a charismatic leader whose populist domestic programs and nationalist foreign policy had broad appeal, especially to rural and urban constituencies less favored under previous governments. During the 1980s, traditional elites and a developing middle class began to organize opposition to the PDF's economic and political role. The PDF led by Gen. Noriega, has resisted the perceived threats to its overall authority and institutional autonomy and sought to preserve or expand its influence. Rivalry between civilian elites and the PDF has been a recurring theme in Panamanian political life since the 1950s. The political crisis that overtook Panama in 1988 indicated that efforts to find an accommodation had reached a critical stage. Although growing numbers of the middle and lower classes support a return to civilian government and the strengthening of constitutional democracy, the political parties opposing the PDF are still plagued by internal division and rivalries, while the PDF has been able to maintain an essential degree of discipline and cohesiveness. The political balance in Panama is likely to remain fundamentally unstable for the foreseeable future.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, June 1989.