Democratic Revolutionary Party
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Democratic Revolutionary Party
Partido Revolucionario Democrático |
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|---|---|
 |
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| President | Benicio Robinson |
| Secretary-General | Carlos Perez Herrera |
| Founder | Omar Torrijos |
| Founded | March 11, 1979 |
| Headquarters | Azteca Building, Mexico Avenue, Panama City, Panama |
| Ideology |
Social democracy Populism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| International affiliation |
Socialist International, Foro de São Paulo |
| Colours | Blue, red, white |
| Seats in the National Assembly |
26 / 71
|
| Website | |
| prdunido.com | |
The Democratic Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Democrático, or PRD) is a Panamanian political party. It was founded in 1979 by General Omar Torrijos and is generally described as a party of the centre-left of the political spectrum.
Since its creation, the party had strong ties with the military regime that ruled Panama since the military coup of 1968. Most of its members identified with Torrijos's social policy and the legacy of the Canal Treaties signed a few years before his death. Domestic and international political pressure orchestrated by Torrijos against the United States was viewed as nationalist. Despite his dictatorial methods, Torrijos is recognized as one of the most popular leaders Panama has ever had.
With the signing of the Canal Treaties, Torrijos committed to restore at least nominal civilian rule to Panama. To do so, he created the PRD as his political vehicle, and filed to run for president in the 1984 elections against the man he'd overthrown in 1968, Arnulfo Arias.
With Torrijos's death, the military regime ruling the country fell into a crisis of power. After his unclear death, two generals resigned before Manuel Noriega took power. The political scenario changed drastically, and Noriega began to persecute politicians who opposed him, ruling the country by fear and terror.
The situation in the country deteriorated under Noriega's rule. The 1985 assassination of dissident Hugo Spadafora generated the beginning of the political turmoil that ended in 1989 with the US invasion of Panama.
The PRD was manipulated by Noriega. There were many secretaries of the party, the most famous being Ramito Vasquez Chambonet at the beginning and Darinel Espino the end. Noriega also named presidents, ministries, legislators, and other government positions loyal to him. This created a deep crisis inside the party, which did not have inner democracy until the reforms after the US invasion.
Since democracy was restored in 1990, PRD politicians have restructured the party by increasing member participation and, for the first time, holding primaries to elect representatives for government positions. It was the first party in Panama that underwent such restructuring and was viewed as the most organized and biggest political party in the country. The restructuring was led by Ernesto Perez Balladares, Francisco Sanchez, Mitchell Does, Tomas G. Duque, and Gerardo Gonzalez. In 1991 part of this staff met Arias Calderon, then vice president of Panama, to make clear their interest in forming a political opposition and not a military.
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Wikipedia