José Agustín Arango

José Agustín Arango Remón (Panama, February 24, 1841 - Panama, May 10, 1909) was a Panamanian politician, lawyer and statesman and also supported the separatist movement of Panama from Colombia in November 1903; president of the Provisional Government Board. In 1907 he represented Panama in Washington D.C. where he signed the Taft-Arango Protocol, which was established as an addition to the Hay-Bunau Varilla treaty, a clause to give Panama the power to make bilateral arrangements with Colombia for the definition of its borders, without American intervention. He was elected first vice president of the Republic. He was a member of the Provisional Government Board of Panama, whose objective was to organize everything related to the emergence of the new republic. Along with him the board was made up of Tomás Arias Ávila and Federico Boyd.

Biography

He was born on February 25, 1841 in Panama City. Dedicated to commercial activities and a lawyer by profession, he worked for the Panama Railway Company and was a socially prominent figure in Panama at the beginning of the century. In March 1903, he was named Representative for the Department of Panama before the Colombian Congress, a position he was to hold at the time of separation. He was one of the most ardent defenders of the ratification, by the Colombian Congress, of the Herrán-Hay Treaty to build a Panama Canal. Convinced that Colombia would not approve the Treaty, he became the promoter of the separatist movement of 1903.

Deeply concerned about the turn of events following the signing of this Treaty, he decided to remain in Panama and not appear at the sessions of the Bogotá Congress where the controversial document would be discussed.

In June 1903, he began meeting informally with members of his family to discuss the attitude that Panama would adopt if the Treaty were rejected. To do this he came into contact with prominent officials of the Railway Company such as J.R. Beers who was very useful when establishing contacts in the United States.

When on August 12 the Colombian Congress rejected the Treaty, it formed the Revolutionary Junta determined to separate the Isthmus from Colombia. On November 4, 1903, he was named President of the Provisional Government Board, which he governed until February 19, 1904. He was on several occasions appointed to the Executive Branch and, in 1907, served as representative in Washington D..C..

Of his participation in the independence feat, as one of the heroes, he left us his memories in his writing: "Data for the History of the Independence of the Isthmus, proclaimed on November 3, 1903", where he collects the main events of the movement. For this reason he was honored as one of the Founders of the Republic. When José Domingo de Obaldía Gallegos was elected President of the Republic in 1908, José Agustín Arango accompanied him as the first Designate and until his death the following year he served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He died on May 19, 1909 in Panama City.