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### Viewing cable 04PANAMA1015, PANAMA: WHO IS PRESIDENT-ELECT MARTIN TORRIJOS AND

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
04PANAMA1015 | 2004-05-03 02:48 | 2011-05-31 00:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Panama

`

    This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PANAMA 001015

    SIPDIS

    DEPT. FOR WHA/CEN/BRIGHAM, INR/B, AND OPS CENTER
    NSC FOR TOM SHANNON

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2014
    TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL PM POLITICS FOREIGN POLICY
    SUBJECT: PANAMA: WHO IS PRESIDENT-ELECT MARTIN TORRIJOS AND
    HOW WILL HE GOVERN?

    REF: A. 03 PANAMA 3173
         ¶B. PANAMA 0145
         ¶C. PANAMA 0205
         ¶D. PANAMA 0802
         ¶E. PANAMA 1014

    Classified By: DCM Christopher J. McMullen for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)

    SUMMARY: MARTIN TORRIJOS WINS MAY 2 GENERAL ELECTIONS
    --------------------------------------------- --------

    ¶1. (SBU) At 7:35 p.m. local time (8:35 p.m. Washington time),
    Panama's Electoral Tribunal declared Martin Erasto Torrijos
    Espino the winner of Panama's May 2, 2004 General Elections.
    It appeared that voter participation would exceed 75%.
    Torrijos' five-year term as President will commence September
    1, 2004.  Torrijos' Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD)
    joined forces with its historical opponent, the Popular Party
    (PP) to propel him to victory.  Torrijos has surrounded
    himself with young, primarily US-educated professionals like
    himself and has changed the face of the PRD by marginalizing
    "old guard" supporters of former President Ernesto Perez
    Balladares (1994-99).  Torrijos is a little-known quantity in
    governing style, largely because his government experience is
    minimal.  Torrijos and those closest to him have shown strong
    indications that they intend to work closely with U.S.
    officials, especially on security, law enforcement, trade and
    investment.  Torrijos is married and has three children.  His
    wife, the former Vivian Fernandez Bello, whose parents were
    born in Cuba, is a successful professional woman in public
    relations.  Like her husband, Mrs. Torrijos speaks English
    well.  End Summary.

    PERSONAL BACKGROUND
    -------------------

    ¶2.  (SBU) The son of former Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos
    and Xenia Espino, a former Air Panama flight attendant who
    was not Omar's wife, Martin Torrijos was born on July 18,
    ¶1963.  Torrijos' maternal grandparents raised him during his
    early years in the town of Chitre, 251 km. west of Panama
    City in Herrera Province since his mother traveled often for
    work.  At approximately age 12, Torrijos moved to a Panama
    City apartment with his mother.  Torrijos has publicly
    praised his mother and maternal grandparents for raising him.

    ¶3.  (SBU) Omar Torrijos only recognized Martin Torrijos as
    his son when he was in his teens, and sent him to St. John's
    Military Academy in Wisconsin to attend high school with his
    half-brother Omar Jr., under the "parental" supervision of
    Colon-born business Cirilo McSween, who later "adopted"
    Martin and Omar after their father's 1981 death in a plane
    crash.  Torrijos, who spent ages 15-29 (1978-1992) mostly in
    the United States, earned bachelors degrees from Texas A&M in
    political science (1986) and economics (1988).  During
    1989-91, before Ernesto Perez Balladares (EPB) called
    Torrijos back to Panama to help reorganize the PRD in 1992,
    Torrijos helped manage several McDonald's franchises owned by
    McSween's Cirilo Incorporated, as well as insurance and
    banking interests in the Chicago area.

    ¶4.  (C) Torrijos is a quiet deliberator who has only recently
    come out of his shell as a decisive leader.  Many interpret
    his reserve as a sign that he lacks substance and is easy
    prey for manipulation.  Torrijos, who considers himself a
    "self-made man," is exceedingly self-conscious about giving
    the appearance that others maintain or manipulate him.
    Opponents' probes during the campaign regarding the source of
    Torrijos' personal wealth angered him greatly because he
    understood that they sought to "prove" the supposition that
    he owes all of his wealth to proceeds of Panama's corrupt
    21-year dictatorship.  Torrijos' Campaign finance manager
    Ubaldino Real, who met him at Texas A & M, noted that
    Torrijos' reluctance or inability to describe his assets and
    business interests tends to exacerbate rumors of ill-gotten
    wealth by making it appear that he is trying to hide
    something.

    ¶5.  (C) Martin Torrijos married Vivian Fernandez Bello, whose
    parents are Cuban, in 1990.  They have three children,
    Daniella, Martin Jr., and Nicolas.  Vivian has a successful
    public relations firm, but has stated that she will take time
    off to support Martin's five-year presidency.  Both Martin
    and Vivian have a profound interest in programs to assist the
    handicapped.  Their ten-year-old daughter Daniella has
    spastic cerebral palsy, but thanks to the best medical care
    available, she has developed only slightly slower than other
    children her age.

    POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE
    -------------------------------

    ¶6.  (SBU) After officially registering with the PRD on May
    14, 1993, Martin became PRD Youth Committee chairman in 1994.
     When EPB became president in 1994, he named Martin as Vice
    Minister of Government and Justice.  Torrijos kept a low
    profile as Vice Minister, which led his opponents to
    criticize his apparent lack of governing experience,
    particularly during the recent campaign.   While
    Vice-Minister during EPB's 1994-99 term Torrijos also served
    on the Board of Directors of several government entities,
    including the now-privatized Civil Aviation Authority and
    state-owned telephone utility INTEL, and the Prison
    Modernization Commission.

    ¶7.  (SBU) After EPB lost a 1998 referendum to permit him to
    run for another term, Martin competed against and defeated
    current Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro and several
    others for the PRD's 1999 presidential nomination.  Viewing
    Martin as the least threatening to his future prospects, EPB
    grudgingly made way for Torrijos' 1999 run for president.
    Rumors have circulated for over a year in Panama that EPB,
    eyeing a 2009 comeback for himself, even surreptitiously
    backed Torrijos opponent Guillermo Endara.

    ¶8.  (SBU) Since his May 1999 loss to Mireya Moscoso,
    Torrijos' sole purpose was winning the presidency in 2004.
    When Torrijos (38% of vote) lost the 1999 election to Moscoso
    (44% of vote), he dedicated himself full time to recruiting
    new PRD Members and consolidating his control over the party.
     Some of Torrijos' closest associates have estimated that up
    to half of the PRD's 474,000 registered voters as of January
    2004 joined the party to follow him.  Regardless of the exact
    figure, Torrijos has tremendous appeal with Panamanian youth
    and has managed to break some of the anti-PRD stigma,
    particularly with those who are too young to remember the
    harder years of Panama's 1968-89 military dictatorship.

    LIKELY POLICIES
    ---------------

    ¶9.  (SBU) In addition to "yes we can," Torrijos' campaign
    mantra was "more jobs, more security, zero corruption."
    Torrijos has proposed creating jobs by "revitalizing"
    export-capable economic sectors, such as agriculture and
    manufacturing; increasing productivity and competitiveness
    (through training, education, and investment in
    infrastructure); prioritizing tourism, maritime services and
    ports, transport, fisheries, communications, and financial
    services such as "growth industries"; concluding a
    Panama-U.S. free trade agreement; and rationalizing public
    finances, reducing regulations, and completing the
    Colon-Panama highway.  First Vice President-elect Samuel
    Lewis Navarro has asserted that a U.S.-Panama bilateral Free
    Trade Agreement (FTA) is about investment, not trade.  He
    touted the FTA for its positive effects on procurement and
    contracting as the main lever to get foreign financing for
    Canal expansion, which will be the biggest infrastructure
    project in the Hemisphere.

    ¶10.  (C) Martin Torrijos made platform proposals on public
    security (delinquency and criminal behavior) and national
    security (protecting Panama's borders and Canal).  Torrijos
    said his platform will include six areas on which his
    administration would focus to improve overall security: (1)
    social and education programs, (2) Public Force (PPF)
    structural reforms, (3) administration of justice efficiency,
    (4) prison system improvements, (5) territorial and border
    security and (6) civil society participation.  Torrijos has
    his pick of trained security professionals from the
    now-defunct Panamanian Defense Forces who can help him
    structure his plans, and he has reached out to the Embassy as
    a potential partner in advancing some areas of mutual
    interest.

    ¶11.  (C) Torrijos will have to back up his pledge to reduce
    corruption with concrete action, beginning with the selection
    of individuals with solid reputations to serve in key
    positions.  The prior PRD administration under EPB was
    notably corrupt and after five years out of power, PRD
    stalwarts are hungry for power and its perquisites, observers
    say.  Torrijos' first cousin, Hugo Torrijos, until recently
    Torrijos' campaign manager and finance chief, is heavily
    implicated in a multi-million dollar scandal involving Ports
    Engineering and Construction Company (PECC), but remains
    close to him.  Many observers think that Torrijos himself may
    be implicated in the multi-million dollar CEMIS scandal
    (although we have not seen any evidence yet to support those
    allegations).  Torrijos skillfully handled the PRD primaries,
    but opponents have criticized him for promising government
    jobs to primary losers to keep them in the party.  Embassy is
    looking forward to seeing how well Torrijos keeps his promise
    to revitalize the government transparency law by eliminating
    President Moscoso's restrictive implementing decree, which
    effectively gutted the law.

    KEY CHALLENGE: STRUGGLE WITHIN THE PRD
    --------------------------------------

    ¶12.  (C) An internal PRD struggle for positions and influence
    in a new government may quickly become Torrijos' first major
    challenge.  Several sources close to Torrijos insist that he
    held off showing his cards on key job assignments in a
    Torrijos government, believing that his likely decisions
    would anger Perez Balladares supporters and others of the old
    guard.  Although the Torrijos inner circle is comfortable
    shutting out the old guard after election day, many have
    insisted that Torrijos would owe political "debts" to them.

    ¶13.  (C) The emergence of young leaders like Torrijos has not
    purged the PRD of its "old guard" or followers of former
    President Ernesto Perez Balladares (1994-99), but it has
    rejuvenated party membership and offers much better examples
    to follow.  Like his closest friends, his running mates (See
    Septel), and advisors, Torrijos is a US-educated modernist,
    well-versed in doing business with Americans.  In fact,
    Torrijos has cast himself as "Panama's Tony Blair," a free
    market liberal with strong social conscience.  If "change
    comes from the top" in Panama's top-down political structure,
    his leadership could greatly improve US-Panama relations in
    the long run by improving governance in Panama.  But much
    will depend on the durability of his resolve to change, and
    how well he can keep the "old guard" at bay in the
    post-election scramble for plum positions in the next
    government.
    WATT

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