Ahora Todos Somos Panameños: Kuna Identity and Panamanian Nationalism under the Torrijos Regime, 1968-1981

Abstract

In 1968, a military coup surprised Panama, placing political power in the hands of populist leader General Omar Torrijos Herrera. Recuperation of the Panama Canal remained a high priority to the government, and Torrijos repeatedly articulated that the means to territorial sovereignty only existed through a unified Panamanian nation. Thus, the Torrijos government embarked on the task of incorporating the marginalized masses into the government, including the notoriously autonomous Kuna. As pluriethnicity became a crucial tenet of Panamanian national identity, the Kuna struggled to preserve their culture but simultaneously adopted governmental development programs and capitalized on opportunities for political participation. This project studies the relationship between the Kuna and the Torrijos government, which lasted from 1968-1981, focusing on issues of nationalism, ethnicity, and identity.