Arnulfo Arias
Encyclopedia
Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid (August 15, 1901 in Penonomé
, Coclé Province
, Panama
– August 10, 1988 in Miami, Florida
) was president of Panama
on three occasions: 1940–41, 1949–51, and for two weeks in October 1968.
. Later, he specialized in psychiatry
, obstetrics
and endocrinology
.
and assumed leadership of the nationalistic organization Patriotic Communal Action. This organization tapped into a building current of discontent in Panama against the considerable influence the United States
exerted on the country. It formed the nucleus of the present-day Panameñista Party
. Panama
had been, for all intents and purposes, a U.S.
protectorate
since gaining independence
in 1903.
In 1931, Arias led a coup that deposed Liberal
President Florencio Harmodio Arosemena
. The next year, he helped his brother Harmodio
become president. He subsequently served in cabinet and diplomatic posts. In 1940, he was elected president by an unprecedented majority as the candidate of the National Revolutionary Party (PNR, which became the Panameñista Party in the mid-1940s).
Soon after taking office, Arias enacted a new constitution
that granted women the right to vote for the first time. However, he also jailed dissidents, disenfranchised the non-Spanish-speaking population, and expressed sympathy with the Axis powers
of World War II
. He was ousted in October 1941, in a coup supported by the United States
.
He ran for president again in 1948 as the candidate of a coalition of his party and the Authentic Revolutionary Party and lost. However, a year later the National Assembly
declared that he had actually won. He suspended the constitution and set up a secret police force. Corruption was widespread, and he was overthrown again in 1951. He ran unsuccessfully in 1964, then won the 1968 elections as the standard-bearer of a five-party coalition. Taking office in October, he maneuvered to gain control of the legislature and the Supreme Court and to restructure the command of the National Guard
. After only 11 days as president, he was ousted for the third time and undertook a midnight escape to the Canal Zone. Arias had made the mistake of trying to send military leader Omar Torrijos to a foreign position which Torrijos felt he would lose money from uncollected bribes. The Presidential Palace was shot up by Torrijos men. Arias, having seen the Guards gone and after receiving a call from the Costa Rican President warning him that the border had been closed, left the Palace along with Hildebrando Nicosia his Chief of Staff and chose to divert to the Panama Canal Zone and U.S. refuge. The getaway car, driven by Nicosia's son-in-law, Michael Merry the Panama Manager of an international communications company, ran the blockaded border to safety. Arias and Nicosia later left the Canal Zone, exiled to Miami, {Florida}. His 93 year old mother however was sleeping upstairs, but was unharmed and undisturbed having taken her hearing aids out to sleep.
After the U.S.
pressured military leader Omar Torrijos
to liberalize his regime, Arias returned to Panama
in 1978. While he was in exile, a small dissident group in his Panameñista Party
joined the pro-Torrijos
coalition, and took over the party's registration. The majority of the party remained with Arias, renaming itself the Authentic Panameñista Party.
In 1984, the 83-year old Arias ran once more for president. When exit polls showed Arias with a substantial lead, the government, now controlled by Manuel Noriega
, halted the count. It brazenly manipulated the results and declared that its candidate, Nicolás Ardito Barletta
, had won by only 1,713 votes. Independent observers estimated that Arias would have won in a landslide had the election been conducted in a fair manner. As a result, Barletta was nicknamed fraudito (little fraud), in reference to his second name Ardito. Arias fled once again to Florida
.
due to natural causes. His body was transferred to Panama City, where he was ultimately buried. His supporters used his funeral as a protest against Noriega
.
Arias' party
regained power after the U.S. invasion of Panama a year later. Its presidential candidate, Guillermo Endara
, had won elections earlier that year, only to have them annulled by Noriega
. It was renamed the Arnulfista Party in 1990, and in 2005 regained its old name, the Panameñista Party
.
in 1964. He remained married until his death. Moscoso later became the first woman President of Panama following the 1999 elections.
Penonomé
Penonomé is the capital of the Panamanian province of Coclé. The town is located along the Inter-American Highway in the wide, flat lowlands of central Coclé....
, Coclé Province
Coclé Province
Coclé is a province of central Panama on the nation's southern coast. The capital is the city of Penonomé. This province was created by the Act of September 12, 1855 with the title of Department of Coclé during the presidency of Dr. Justo de Arosemena. It became a province, Decretory Number 190,...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
– August 10, 1988 in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
) was president of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
on three occasions: 1940–41, 1949–51, and for two weeks in October 1968.
Origins
Arias was born in Penonomé, main town of Coclé, a province in western Panama. He was the son of Antonio Arias and Carmen Madrid, and the brother of Harmodio Arias, who served as President of Panama from 1932-1936. He wrote his first letters with the French Christian Brothers in his native city. He studied medicine and surgery at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Later, he specialized in psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
and endocrinology
Endocrinology
Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions called hormones, the integration of developmental events such as proliferation, growth, and differentiation and the coordination of...
.
Political life
In 1925, Arias returned to PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and assumed leadership of the nationalistic organization Patriotic Communal Action. This organization tapped into a building current of discontent in Panama against the considerable influence the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
exerted on the country. It formed the nucleus of the present-day Panameñista Party
Panameñista Party
- Founding and early history :The party is the oldest in Panama. It was founded in 1932 by Arnulfo Arias Madrid, a prominent medical , as the National Revolutionary Party. Its membership largely came from Patriotic Communal Action, a nationalist organization that opposed the large amount of...
. Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
had been, for all intents and purposes, a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
since gaining independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
in 1903.
In 1931, Arias led a coup that deposed Liberal
National Liberal Party (Panama)
The National Liberal Party was a liberal party in Panama. At the last legislative elections, 2 May 2004, the party won 5.2 % of the popular vote and 3 out of 78 seats...
President Florencio Harmodio Arosemena
Florencio Harmodio Arosemena
Florencio Harmodio Arosemena Guillén was President of Panama from October 1, 1928 to January 3, 1931. He belonged to the Liberal Party....
. The next year, he helped his brother Harmodio
Harmodio Arias Madrid
Harmodio Arias Madrid was Panamanian politician. He served as acting President of Panama in January 1931 and again from June 5, 1932 to October 1, 1936 after winning presidential election....
become president. He subsequently served in cabinet and diplomatic posts. In 1940, he was elected president by an unprecedented majority as the candidate of the National Revolutionary Party (PNR, which became the Panameñista Party in the mid-1940s).
Soon after taking office, Arias enacted a new constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
that granted women the right to vote for the first time. However, he also jailed dissidents, disenfranchised the non-Spanish-speaking population, and expressed sympathy with the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was ousted in October 1941, in a coup supported by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He ran for president again in 1948 as the candidate of a coalition of his party and the Authentic Revolutionary Party and lost. However, a year later the National Assembly
National Assembly of Panama
The National Assembly , formerly the Legislative Assembly , is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Panama.It is a unicameral legislature, currently made up of 71 members, who serve five-year terms...
declared that he had actually won. He suspended the constitution and set up a secret police force. Corruption was widespread, and he was overthrown again in 1951. He ran unsuccessfully in 1964, then won the 1968 elections as the standard-bearer of a five-party coalition. Taking office in October, he maneuvered to gain control of the legislature and the Supreme Court and to restructure the command of the National Guard
Military of Panama
The Panamanian Public Forces are the national defense forces of Panama. Panama is the second country in Latin America to permanently abolish standing armies, leaving it with only small para-military forces. This came as a result of a US invasion that overthrew a military dictatorship which ruled...
. After only 11 days as president, he was ousted for the third time and undertook a midnight escape to the Canal Zone. Arias had made the mistake of trying to send military leader Omar Torrijos to a foreign position which Torrijos felt he would lose money from uncollected bribes. The Presidential Palace was shot up by Torrijos men. Arias, having seen the Guards gone and after receiving a call from the Costa Rican President warning him that the border had been closed, left the Palace along with Hildebrando Nicosia his Chief of Staff and chose to divert to the Panama Canal Zone and U.S. refuge. The getaway car, driven by Nicosia's son-in-law, Michael Merry the Panama Manager of an international communications company, ran the blockaded border to safety. Arias and Nicosia later left the Canal Zone, exiled to Miami, {Florida}. His 93 year old mother however was sleeping upstairs, but was unharmed and undisturbed having taken her hearing aids out to sleep.
After the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pressured military leader Omar Torrijos
Omar Torrijos
Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981...
to liberalize his regime, Arias returned to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
in 1978. While he was in exile, a small dissident group in his Panameñista Party
Panameñista Party
- Founding and early history :The party is the oldest in Panama. It was founded in 1932 by Arnulfo Arias Madrid, a prominent medical , as the National Revolutionary Party. Its membership largely came from Patriotic Communal Action, a nationalist organization that opposed the large amount of...
joined the pro-Torrijos
Omar Torrijos
Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981...
coalition, and took over the party's registration. The majority of the party remained with Arias, renaming itself the Authentic Panameñista Party.
In 1984, the 83-year old Arias ran once more for president. When exit polls showed Arias with a substantial lead, the government, now controlled by Manuel Noriega
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.The 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States removed him from power; he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on...
, halted the count. It brazenly manipulated the results and declared that its candidate, Nicolás Ardito Barletta
Nicolás Ardito Barletta Vallarino
Nicolás Ardito Barletta Vallarino was President of Panama from October 11, 1984 to September 28, 1985. He belonged to the Democratic Revolutionary Party ....
, had won by only 1,713 votes. Independent observers estimated that Arias would have won in a landslide had the election been conducted in a fair manner. As a result, Barletta was nicknamed fraudito (little fraud), in reference to his second name Ardito. Arias fled once again to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Death
He died on August 10, 1988 in MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
due to natural causes. His body was transferred to Panama City, where he was ultimately buried. His supporters used his funeral as a protest against Noriega
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.The 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States removed him from power; he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on...
.
Arias' party
Panameñista Party
- Founding and early history :The party is the oldest in Panama. It was founded in 1932 by Arnulfo Arias Madrid, a prominent medical , as the National Revolutionary Party. Its membership largely came from Patriotic Communal Action, a nationalist organization that opposed the large amount of...
regained power after the U.S. invasion of Panama a year later. Its presidential candidate, Guillermo Endara
Guillermo Endara
Guillermo David Endara Galimany was the President of Panama from 1989 to 1994. He ran for office in 2004 and 2009 but lost to the former President Martin Torrijos and to the incumbent President Ricardo Martinelli....
, had won elections earlier that year, only to have them annulled by Noriega
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.The 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States removed him from power; he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on...
. It was renamed the Arnulfista Party in 1990, and in 2005 regained its old name, the Panameñista Party
Panameñista Party
- Founding and early history :The party is the oldest in Panama. It was founded in 1932 by Arnulfo Arias Madrid, a prominent medical , as the National Revolutionary Party. Its membership largely came from Patriotic Communal Action, a nationalist organization that opposed the large amount of...
.
Personal life
Arias was married to Ana Matilde Linares in 1927. She died in 1955. Arias married Mireya MoscosoMireya Moscoso
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez de Arias is a Panamanian political figure. She was the President of Panama from 1999 to 2004, representing the Arnulfista Party...
in 1964. He remained married until his death. Moscoso later became the first woman President of Panama following the 1999 elections.
