Martin Torrijos Espino

Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino (Chitré, July 18, 1963) is a Panamanian politician. He was the 35th. Constitutional President of the Republic of Panama, during the period from September 1, 2004 to June 30, 2009. He is the son of General Omar Torrijos Herrera.

Biography

He is the son of General Omar Torrijos Herrera and the educator Xenia Espino. After completing his primary studies in Panama City, he earned degrees in Political Science (1986) and Economics (1998) at Texas A & M University.

Between 1988 and 1992, he worked at McDonald's Corporation in the city of Chicago, where he held the position of Administrative and Operations Manager.

In addition, he worked privately as an economic advisor to international firms in communication, construction, agricultural exports, and the maritime industry. He is a member of the Club de Madrid.

The year 1992 marks the beginning of his political leadership. He assumes the direction of the Youth Front of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) as first secretary, quickly becoming the national leader of the party.

He served, during the government of President Ernesto Pérez Balladares, as Vice Minister of Government and Justice, a position from which he carried out the modernization of the national penitentiary system. For the latter, he earned recognition from the United Nations (UN) and the Government of Spain.

In the 1999 elections, he won the nomination as a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic in the internal nominations of the PRD, but did not reach an electoral triumph.

For the elections of May 2, 2004, he achieved the presidential nomination for the second time for the PRD, who heads the Patria Nueva alliance - a conjunction of social democratic, social Christian and liberal parties - obtaining an electoral victory with the support of 47% of the voters.

The PRD's Torrijista program will be expressed in its government administration for a five-year period, characterized by developing a set of local development programs and attention to the most needy people, combined with a successful international agenda that once again places Panama in the world stage, as a key country in the center of the Americas, a sustained growth of the economy and the implementation of important reforms to the State. To move in this direction, the following social strategies were used: Comprehensive and geographically and demographically focused social policies; programs and projects developed in an intersectoral manner; efficient and effective social spending and social investment in order to ensure quality services and comprehensive coverage to the different population groups in the country.

The Torrijos government called for a national dialogue with the country's social and labor forces to agree on a negotiated solution to social security and its main institution, the Social Security Fund. It materialized in Law 51 of 2005, with agreements that laid the foundations for the maintenance of the system, avoiding the bankruptcy of the Social Security Fund. A new pension model was created that for the new generations has two components: one of defined benefits and another of personal savings, giving the affiliate a margin of freedom to choose the moment in which he decides to retire and maintaining the public and supportive character of the CSS, with an increase in the number of active contributors to practically 920 thousand people.

The government plan had as priority goals to address unemployment and extreme poverty. In these sectors, the president made substantial progress. He reduces unemployment and creates a system of subsidies for people in extreme poverty. This led to the development of operational instruments for investment targeting and the creation of mechanisms such as: PRODEC, PROINLO, PRODEM. Consultative mechanisms for citizen participation and institutional reorganization and creation of new institutions such as MIDES, MIVI, INADEH, SENACYT, SENADIS, SENAPAN, among others, were also used as strategies for social policies.

Most especially, it carried out the Red de Oportunidades program, where 96% of households in extreme poverty were covered by the network; in that period it covered 73 thousand 338 households in 609 corregimientos of the country.

Another of his first actions was to create two important Secretariats at the presidential level: one for the integration of people with disabilities (SENADIS) and another for Government Innovation.

Other innovation programs were, for example: Panama Compra. Panama Undertakes. Panama Processing. Connect to knowledge. Queries in the Public Registry of Panama online. Official Digital Gazette. Legisdata System.

The most important reforms were: Tax Reform. Reform of the Social Security System. Reform of the banking system. Reform of the customs regime. Immigration regime reform. Reform of the tourism sector. Reform of the public procurement regime and deep reforms in the area of security.

Likewise, the Canal in Panamanian hands is administered during its period with high degrees of efficiency and managed to create the conditions to carry out the expansion works of the Panama Canal, submitting to a popular consultation that was supported by eight out of ten Panamanians. During his term, a popular vote was held to make sure that the Panamanian people agreed with the Panama Canal Expansion. The works culminated in 2014, the last year of Ricardo Martinelli's government and the first year of Juan Carlos Varela's government.

Presidency (2004-2009)

Martin Torrijos and his American counterpart George W. Bush at the Oval Office on February 16, 2007.

On September 1, President-elect Martín Torrijos was sworn in as Constitutional President of the Republic of Panama for the period (2004-2009), by the President of the Legislative Assembly Jerry Wilson, in addition to the two Vice Presidents of the Republic, Samuel Lewis Navarro and Rubén Arosemena.

The inauguration was attended by, among others, the Secretary of State of the United States Collin Powell, the Prince of Asturias, Presidents of Latin America and more than 70 representatives of the countries with which Panama maintains diplomatic relations.

Torrijos assumed the presidency of the nation under a series of international tensions with the governments of Venezuela and Cuba, as a result of a pardon granted a few days after the end of the term of President Mireya Moscoso, to Luis Posada Carriles and five other anti-Castro members in August 2004. Both nations broke diplomatic relations since Carriles was required by the justice of Cuba and Venezuela. However, the Torrijos government normalizes diplomatic relations with both nations.

Predecessor: Mireya Moscoso

35°. Constitutional President of the Republic of Panama 1 September 2004 - 30 June 2009

Successor: Ricardo Martinelli

Personal life

He is married to Vivian Fernández, and they are the parents of 3 children: Daniella María, Martín Omar and Nicolás Antonio.

Honorary Distinctions

• Necklace of the Order of Isabel the Catholic (2008)