Word: panama
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...dictator in question, of course, is Panama's "Maximum Leader of the Revolution," Brigadier General Omar Torrijos Herrera, who seized power from the old oligarchy nine years ago. At 48, he has led Panama through its longest period of internal stability by a combination of stirring leftist rhetoric and a pragmatic respect for free enterprise. His philosophy can embrace almost anything -from government ownership of mines and industry to a hospitable climate for foreign banks, 70 of which have established branches in Panama, with assets of around $12 billion...
...political and diplomatic success, Torrijos may find himself in trouble if he fails to improve economic conditions for the mass of Panama's 1.7 million citizens. Primarily mestizos (of mixed-blood descent), the Panamanians earn an average of $1,180 per year, one of the highest per capita incomes in Latin America. But much of that wealth is in the hands of rabiblancos (rich financiers) or Mercedes-driving urban entrepreneurs who live in the flashy high-rise condominiums of Panama City...
...waist-high water in the jungle. "Once in a while," he has said, "a leader must get his feet wet and mud on his boots." But his laws against dismissal of workers and eviction of tenants for nonpayment of rent have contributed to the country's economic problems. Panama's foreign debt is now $700 million, while unemployment has soared to 12% nationally, and is much higher in urban areas. The economy has remained virtually stagnant since...
...that he has struck his bargain with the Americans, Torrijos frets about convincing radical students that his leftist credentials are still valid. The question is a critical one along the Fourth of July Avenue, the boundary line between American and Panamanian control in Panama City. Panamanians ngw call the thoroughfare the Avenue of the Martyrs as a reminder of the 1964 riots, in which 21 Panamanians and four Americans were killed in several days of fighting along the line. The words BASES NO, painted on billboards and walls around the city, reflect the overwhelming sentiment among volatile students. "The treaty...
...since John F. Kennedy launched the Alliance for Progress in 1961 had Latin Americans seen anything quite like the attention they were getting from Washington last week. Even as representatives of the U.S. and Panama were striking an agreement for a new Canal treaty (see THE NATION), the Carter Administration was busy trying to patch up frayed relations and win new friends elsewhere south of the border...