Word: panama
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...riderless stallion, the orange fire truck rolled slowly toward the cemetery in Panama City last week, bearing a flag-draped coffin that was topped by a distinctive canteen, bush hat and gun holster. At the grave, a 21-cannon salute boomed as the coffin was lowered amid a torrent of flowers. Thus did Panama bid farewell to its strongman, Omar Torrijos Herrera, who was killed when his plane crashed four days earlier...
...hundreds of thousands of Panamanians, who poured into the streets to mourn their lost leader, the funeral also marked the beginning of an ominous power vacuum after 13 years of relative stability under Torrijos, who ruled the country as head of the powerful National Guard. Said Panama's Archbishop Marcos McGrath: "It puts us at a suspenseful point in the social and political history of our fatherland, and in some degree for Central America and the Third World...
Torrijos left behind one of the most stable countries in troubled Central America. The economy was healthy, thanks largely to its canal revenues and free trade zone. In 1977 Torrijos scored his most notable triumph when he renegotiated the Panama Canal treaties with the U.S. to give his country full control over the 51-mile waterway by the year...
Ultimately, Panama's new leader is expected to be decided by a power struggle in the National Guard hierarchy. General Florencia Florez, 47, a diligent, soft-spoken career officer who succeeded Torrijos as commander, artfully tried to bolster his position at the funeral when he called for the canteen that was riding on Torrijos' coffin and, his hand shaking slightly, drank from it. Said he into the microphone: "Let the drink inspire...
...always in the background is the issue of the Panama Canal treaties with the U.S. Right now the sharing of power is working well. Says Thomas O. Enders, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State: "Those treaties are settled. We have a good strong operating relationship with Panama."But some Panama officials fear that, with Torrijos gone, radicals will try to reawaken strong nationalist feelings about the canal...