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PANAMA WITH PROSPECTS OF A MUCH IMPROVED TORRIJOS.

Article Excerpt
Martin, son of Omar, will restore the Torrijos name to Panama's presidency. The office was destined from the beginning to see a familiar name on the door, but it took the May 2 election to determine that it would not be former president Guillermo Endara (1989-1994). Although Torrijos was pulling away as the vote drew near, Endara gave the 41 year-old son of the legendary strongman who negotiated the return of the Panama Canal a run for his money (see NotiCen, 2004-01-22).

The Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD)'s Torrijos also stepped on the candidate of the ruling party, Jose Miguel Aleman of the Partido Arnulfo (PA), and Ricardo Martinelli of the Partido Cambio Democratico (PCD), on his way to the top. But his most significant opponent was Endara who, although officially the Partido Solidaridad (PS) candidate, was perceived by the electorate really to be the Arnulfista candidate because of his closeness with Arnulfo Arias Madrid, patriarch of the PA.

Strange bedfellows make politics

President Mireya Moscoso was married to Arnulfo Arias in 1969 when she was 22 and he 69. But it was Endara who appeared pictured in campaign ads with Arias, not Moscoso's PA candidate Aleman, and it took a court battle to get Endara to stop being seen in public with Arias.

Closing the...

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