![]() Yet he and the role he played were far more complex than was realized by many outsiders. General Torrijos was stereotyped as Panama's ''strongman,'' a military dictator of the Latin American mold. But 10 days after the re-election of President Arias, a Torrijos-led coup ousted him. The Guard, considered one of the best-disciplined forces in Latin America, had little prior involvement in political affairs, which traditionally had been the province of the country's rich elite. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in his country's National Guard in 1952. He entered the military school of El Salvador and received additional military education and training in the United States and Venezuela. 13, 1929, in Santiago, about 110 miles southwest of Panama City. What kept his influence paramount in recent years was mainly the quarrels dividing his opponents. Though still the Commander in Chief of the National Guard, General Torrijos faded more and more into the background after 1978, when he placed Aristides Royo, a lawyer, in the presidency.Įconomic and political troubles of long standing beset Panama even before General Torrijos gave up the day-to-day administration of the country. Made a full colonel, he took over as commandant of Panama's military force, the National Guard, and promoted himself to general a year later.įrom 1972 to 1978, General Torrijos also held the title of Chief of Government and Supreme Leader of the Panamanian Revolution. General Torrijos, as a lieutenant colonel, led the armed coup that overthrew the three-time populist President of Panama, Arnulfo Arias Madrid, in October 1968. Yet when the Panama Canal Treaties were finally signed in the late 1970's, leftists in his own country accused him of selling out Panamanian interests because the United States would continue to control the Panama Canal until the year 2000 and to defend its ''neutrality'' after that. His one consistently strong suit was nationalism. General Torrijos represented no ideology, although many in the United States considered him a leftist, as he occasionally flirted with such leaders as Fidel Castro of Cuba and Col. ![]() He was also instrumental, along with the Vatican, in persuading the Argentine Government to permit former President Isabel Martinez de Peron to leave for exile in Spain this year after five years of house arrest. He was best known in the United States as a principal architect of the Panama Canal treaties and the man who gave asylum to the deposed and ailing Shah of Iran. Omar Torrijos Herrera remained a mystifying figure, not only to many foreigners but to many of his countrymen as well. In just over 12 years as Panama's leader, Brig.
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