The National Guard in Ascendance
A temporary shift in power from the
civilian aristocracy to the National Police occurred immediately after World War II.
Between 1948 and 1952, National Police Commander José Antonio Remón installed and
removed presidents with unencumbered ease. Among his behind-the-scenes manipulations were
the denial to Arnulfo Arias of the presidency he apparently had won in 1948, the
installation of Arias in the presidency in 1949, and the engineering of Arias's removal
from office in 1951. Meanwhile, Remón increased salaries and fringe benefits for his
forces and modernized training methods and equipment; in effect, he transformed the
National Police from a police into a paramilitary force. In the spheres of security and
public order, he achieved his long-sought goal by transforming the National Police into
the National Guard in 1953 and introduced greater militarization into the country's only
armed force. The missions and functions were little changed by the new title, but for
Remón, this change was a step toward a national army.
From several preexisting parties and factions, Remón also organized the National
Patriotic Coalition (Coalición Patriótico Nacional--CPN). He ran successfully as its
candidate for the presidency in 1952. Remón followed national tradition by enriching
himself through political office. He broke with tradition, however, by promoting social
reform and economic development. His agricultural and industrial programs temporarily
reduced the country's overwhelming economic dependence on the canal and the zone.
Remón's reformist regime was short-lived, however. In 1955 he was machine-gunned
to death at the racetrack outside Panama City. The first vice president, José Ramón
Guizado, was impeached for the crime and jailed, but he was never tried, and the
motivation for his alleged act remained unclear. Some investigators believed that the
impeachment of Guizado was a smokescreen to distract attention from others implicated in
the assassination, including United States organized crime figure "Lucky"
Luciano, dissident police officers, and both Arias families. The second vice president,
Ricardo Arias (of the aristocratic Arias family), served out the remainder of the
presidential term and dismantled many of Remón's reforms.
Remón did not live to see the culmination of the major treaty revision he
initiated. In 1953 Remón had visited Washington to discuss basic revisions of the 1936
treaty. Among other things, Panamanian officials wanted a larger share of the canal tolls,
and merchants continued to be unhappy with the competition from the nonprofit commissaries
in the Canal Zone. Remón also demanded that the discriminatory wage differential in the
zone, which favored United States citizens over Panamanians, be abolished.
After lengthy negotiations a Treaty of Mutual Understanding and Cooperation was signed on
January 23, 1955. Under its provisions commercial activities not essential to the
operation of the canal were to be cut back. The annuity was enlarged to US$1,930,000. The
principle of "one basic wage scale for all . . . employees . . . in the Canal
Zone" was accepted and implemented. Panama's request for the replacement of the
"perpetuity" clause by a ninety-nine-year renewable lease was rejected, however,
as was the proposal that its citizens accused of violations in the zone be tried by joint
United States-Panamanian tribunals.
Panama's contribution to the 1955 treaty was its consent to the United States
occupation of the bases outside of the Canal Zone that it had withheld a few years
earlier. Approximately 8,000 hectares of the republic's territory were leased rent-free
for 15 years for United States military maneuvers. The Río Hato base, a particularly
important installation in defense planning, was thus regained for the United States Air
Force. Because the revisions had the strong support of President Ricardo Arias, the
National Assembly approved them with little hesitation.