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President of Panama (1905?1981)
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Chiari
and the second or maternal family name is
Remon
.
Roberto Francisco Chiari Remon
(March 2, 1905 – March 1, 1981) was the
President of Panama
in 1949 and from 1960 to 1964. He belonged to the
Liberal Party
.
Before being president
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He was president of the Chamber of Commerce. He worked in the sugar company of his family with his father
Rodolfo Chiari
and brothers. He was the only one of his brothers that was interested on politics. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1940. During the
Ricardo de la Guardia
administration he was Minister of Health and Public Works. He was one of
Domingo Diaz Arosemena
's
vice presidents
and briefly served as acting president in 1949. He lost the presidential elections of 1952. He was president of his Liberal Party for the next 8 years.
1960 election
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He was elected in a
clean and peaceful election
. He was campaigning against former president
Ricardo Arias
and Victor Goytia.
Administration
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Chiari's government worked hard on the education sector. The General Hospital of the Social Security was inaugurated and an extensive vaccination program developed.
His administration is most remembered for the historic events of January 9, 1964, known today as
Martyrs' Day
. During a dispute between Panamanian and American students regarding the right to raise the Panamanian flag instead of the U.S. flag at
Balboa High School
, the Panamanian flag was accidentally torn. This
flag desecration
sparked four days of fighting between civilians and the US Army. 22 Panamanians and four Americans died. Following these events, Chiari made the decision to break diplomatic relations with the
United States
, making
Panama
the first Latin American country to make this call. This spurred negotiations that ultimately ended in the 1977
Torrijos-Carter Treaties
, which disbanded the
Canal Zone
and relinquished U.S. control of the
Panama Canal
to
Panama
on December 31, 1999. Because of this, Chiari is known as
el presidente de la dignidad
(The President of Dignity).
[1]
Post-presidency
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]
After leaving office, Chiari retired from public life and returned to work in his private companies. He was president of the
Industrial Sindicate
from 1967 to 1969.
References
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External links
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