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One
U. S.
official who is generaUy
sympathetic to Panama's cause ad–
mits: "There is considerable fear
among Canal users in Latín Amer–
ica and worldwide that, without
continued
U. S.
control, the Canal
might be operated to produce maxi–
mum revenues rather than as a util–
ity serving world trade at reasonable
tolls."
Revolutionaries Demand Canal
Serve Panama
In October 1968, the Panamanian
National Guard staged a military
coup. President Arnulfo Arias, who
had been inaugurated only eleven
PLAIN TRUTH Moy 1973
days earlier, was ousted. Jt was the
third time Arias had been elected
president - and the third time he
had been bounced.
The new junta, headed by
Colo–
nel (later General) Ornar Torrijos,
wasted little time in proclaiming a
new "Revolutionary Republic of
Panama." T he democratically
elected National Assembly was
abolished, and political parties were
banned.
The new government aJmost im–
mediately took a much more mili–
tant stand on the Canal issue. The
proposed 1967 treaties with the
U.
S. were denounced. The new
leaders launched a program intent
on exploiting the Canal and its reve–
nue potential to finance what they
called their "social revoJution."
Refiecting the new inward orien–
tation of the nation, the revolu–
tionary government changed the
original Latín motto of the country
from "Pro Mundo" meaning "For
the World" to " Pro Patria," "For
the Fatherland."
The controlled Panamanian press,
reflecting official governmental pol–
icy, began proclaiming that the
narrow lsthmus of Panama - con–
taining the Canal - was the coun–
try's "greatest natural resource."
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