opinion

Do not mistake me for a shrink. As someone who doesn’t like to be presumed normal, and who dislikes being pop psychoanalyzed by amateur psychologists who notice that I’m not normal, I should refrain from doing it to others myself.

No, my degrees are in law, history and political science. My diagnosis here is a political one, rather than a foolhardy attempt to decipher the mind of someone whom I have not examined.

But let’s be very clear that when Martín Torrijos protests about some recent news stories to the effect that his father knew of human rights abuses by those under his command are an attempt to discredit his father and himself, that’s a symptom of a political identity disorder. Martín’s objection to the Truth Commission from its inception is another symptom of the same problem.

The disorder is the identification of one person with another, which usually happens on the basis of familial relationship. It’s unique to neither the PRD nor to Panama. It’s a very common malady that sometimes --- like now --- can have disastrous consequences.

Panama is presently suffering from an inept and corrupt government that came to be in large part because people identified Mireya Moscoso with her late husband, Dr. Arnulfo Arias. Arnulfo is a giant, complicated and controversial part of Panamanian history. The noteworthy advances that Panama made under his leadership include women’s suffrage and the creation of the Social Security Fund. Only fools, ignoramuses or petty partisans can deny his brilliance and his public appeal. It also takes a mirror image of one of these types to deny the man’s intolerance and authoritarianism. A lot of Panamanians loved him and passionately believe in the things for which he stood, while a lot of others take a diametrically opposite point of view.

However, from whichever faction one may come, it’s a mistake to equate Mireya Moscoso Rodríguez with Arnulfo Arias Madrid. It’s gross error, but a common one. People cast their votes for a lot of reasons, but those who voted for Mireya thinking that they would be getting Arnulfo were easily the winning margin in 1999.

Well, Mireya isn’t Arnulfo and couldn’t be if she wanted to be. People voted for a revered image and instead got in-your-face corruption, nepotism without pretense, truly amazing incompetence and the most annoying pettiness.

So in our revulsion do we now want to vote for the image of Arnulfo’s late antagonist, General Omar Torrijos, by way of his son? Thinking like that would be the same mistake that led people to vote for Mireya in the belief that they were picking Arnulfo.

Omar Torrijos was a complex man, a bit of a tyrant and a bit of a populist, brilliant yet with serious personal flaws. Under his leadership, the labor movement advanced and Panama signed treaties by which it gained control of the old Canal Zone and the Panama Canal. Like Arias, he is one of the giants of Panamanian history. People may cherish or despise the memory of General Torrijos, but they can’t easily dismiss it.

Martín Torrijos is not his father. He couldn’t be if he wanted to be. He is of another generation, operating in a different political paradigm. He should not be blamed for his father’s shortcomings and people should not lightly presume that he has his father’s good qualities either.

And really, doesn’t all of his emphasis on a new generation of PRD leadership amount to Martín Torrijos’s implicit admission that he is not Omar Torrijos?

The 2004 Panamanian presidential election is a contest among Martín Torrijos, Guillermo Endara, José Miguel Alemán and Ricardo Martinelli. All of them play on the symbols that they think project themselves and their ideas in a good light, but none of them are those symbols. This is a race among men, not ghosts. The votes will be cast in 2004, not 1941, 1968 or 1989.

So c’mon, Martín. Investigations of and debate about certain negative aspects of your father’s time in power are not about you. You are not your daddy and you shouldn’t have to answer for his real or imagined sins. You are a different man, living in different times. I want to know about your character, your ideas, your talents, the commitments you have made and the things that you love and fear. Leave the notions of guilt or glory by association to the birdbrains and talk about things that matter here and now.



Also in this section:
Jackson, The father's sins aren't the son's
Reporters Without Borders, Caracas community TV closed
Weisbrot, Dubya in Africa
White, Bottling the nuclear genie
Girvan, The CARICOM summit
Bernal, Mireya's court and world tribunals

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