More than 14 years after the end of authoritarian rule, voters here elected the son of a former military dictator on Sunday as Panama's next president.
Martin Torrijos, 40, is the heir of a political party that was built by military strongmen, including his father, General Omar Torrijos, a populist dictator who ruled the country from 1968 to until his death in 1981; and Manuel Antonio Noriega, whose violent government was overthrown by US troops at the end of 1989.
PHOTO: AP
Torrijos, who was educated in the US, campaigned skillfully as both a reverent son and the leader of a new generation of Panamanian politicians. In urban ghettos and among rural peasants, he embraced the memories of his father as a champion of the poor and the visionary who negotiated the treaty by which the US gave this country control of the Panama Canal.
Torrijos, who will replace President Mireya Moscoso, vowed to keep up the fight against the corruption and unequal distribution of wealth that has plagued Panama through most of its 100-year history. At the same time, however, he distanced himself from his party's past misdeeds, vowing to uphold democracy, protect human rights and defend freedom of expression.
"I hope that people vote thinking of the future, about their families and the needs of the country," Torrijos said after visiting his father's crypt, and then casting his ballot on Sunday morning.
Torrijos' closest rival in the balloting, former President Guillermo Endara, conceded defeat late Sunday night. With some 40 percent of the vote counted, Torrijos had about 47 percent of the votes, with Endara getting about 30 percent.
These were the first political contests since the US handed over control of the Panama Canal and withdrew 10,000 troops. The elections were energized by a wave of young voters -- an estimated 15 percent of the 1.9 million people registered -- casting the first ballots of their lives.
Among them were Irica and Yasunari MacFarlane, who have college degrees in tourism and hotel administration. But they are among the estimated 14 percent of Panamanians who are unemployed.
They said they had supported Torrijos because he was a young candidate with fresh ideas for bringing more visitors to Panama and creating new jobs. Luis Arias, 52, also supported Torrijos.
"Dictatorships are a thing of the past, and democracy has been synonymous with corruption," he said. "I voted for a man who cares about the needs of the people. I do not care about his father."
Others, like the political analyst Miguel Antonio Bernal, lamented that the campaigns had produced no real debate about the issues that divide this society into a small class of haves and masses of have-nots. Bernal said he had held his nose and cast his ballot for Endara, whom he considered the least offensive of the presidential candidates.
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