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