Friday 01 August
2008, San José, Costa Rica
Petrocaribe Receives
Central America Support
Panama Pays Tribute to
Torrijos
Colombian Truckers On
Nationwide Protest
Cuba Re-Elected As UN
CEDAW Member
Six
Governments Confirm Anti-Drug Summit
Attendance
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Panama Pays Tribute to
Torrijos
The 27th anniversary of
General Omar Torrijos'
death in a still
suspicious airplane
crash is celebrated on
Thursday with official
ceremonies and
pilgrimages.
The general led the
fight of his people to
seize control of the
Canal area, a
militarized border
across the canal
controlled by the United
States since the
beginning of the 20th
century.
After long and complex
negotiations General
Torrijos and US
President James Carter
signed the treaties in
1977, agreeing to return
the Canal and withdraw
US troops by 1999. The
treaties were named
after the two presidents
Torrijos-Carter.
Torrijos was born in
February 13, 1929 in
Santiago, capital of the
central province of
Veraguas, and died in
July 31, 1981 when the
small plane he was
flying in crashed in a
mountain of central
Panama.
Versions of the facts
indicate the CIA
(Central Intelligence
Agency) planned the
accident and some
maintain the plane
control system was
altered before takeoff.
The official ceremony
will be held in the
mausoleum to his memory
in a canal area near the
capital, and the First
Vice-President and
Foreign Minister Samuel
Lewis Navarro will be
the speaker.
Torrijos' son and
current president of the
Republic Martin Torrijos
Espino will attend the
ceremony.
The citizens will also
have a traditional
pilgrimage to the area
of the accident.
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