page_title: History of Panama
section_title: Military coups and coalitions
hierarchical_section_title: History of Panama / Military coups and coalitions
caption_attribution_description: Jimmy Carter and General Omar Torrijos shake hands after signing the Panama Canal Treaty., 09/07/1977. Also in this picture Alejandro Orfila (right to Jimmy Carter).
context_page_description: The history of Panama includes the long history of the Isthmus of Panama region prior to European colonization, from Pre-Columbian cultures, through the Spanish colonial era, and eventual independence as the modern country of Panama.
  Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Panama was widely settled by Chibchan, Chocoan, and Cueva peoples, but there is no accurate knowledge of the size of the Pre-Columbian indigenous population. Estimates range as high as two million people. They lived mainly by hunting, gathering edible plants & fruits, growing corn, cacao, and root crops, in small huts made of palm leaves.
  The first permanent European settlement, Santa María la Antigua del Darién on the Americas mainland was founded in 1510. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa and Martín Fernández de Enciso agreed on the site near the mouth of the Tarena River on the Atlantic. This was abandoned in 1519 and the settlement moved to Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Panamá, the first European settlement on the shores of the Pacific.
  Panama was part of the Spanish Empire for over 300 years and its fate changed with its geopolitical importance to the Spanish crown.
context_section_description: From 1903 until 1968, Panama was a republic dominated by a commercially oriented oligarchy. During the 1950s, the Panamanian military began to challenge the oligarchy's political hegemony. The January 9, 1964 Martyrs' Day riots escalated tensions between the country and the US government over its long-term occupation of the Canal Zone. Twenty rioters were killed, and 500 other Panamanians were wounded. 4 US soldiers were killed as well.
  In October 1968, Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid was elected president for the third time. Twice ousted by the Panamanian military, he was ousted again as president by the National Guard after only 10 days in office. A military junta government was established, and the commander of the National Guard, Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos, emerged as the principal power in Panamanian political life. Torrijos implemented a populist policy, with the inauguration of schools and the creation of jobs, the redistribution of agricultural land (which was his government's most popular measure). The reforms were accompanied by a major public works programme. It also faces North American multinationals, demanding wage increases for workers and redistributing 180,000 hectares of uncultivated land. In February 1974, following OPEC's model for oil, it attempted to form the Union of Banana Exporting Countries with the other Central American States to respond to the influence of these multinationals, but did not obtain their support. Its policy promotes the emergence of a middle class and the representation of indigenous communities.
  On September 7, 1977, the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were signed by the Panamanian head of state Omar Torrijos and US President Jimmy Carter for the complete transfer of the Canal and the 14 US army bases from the US to Panama by 1999. These treaties also granted the US a perpetual right of military intervention. Certain portions of the Zone and increasing responsibility over the Canal were turned over in the intervening years.
caption: Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos shake hands moments after the signing of the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
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