Voting Station

Omar Torrijos

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World Leader

The Resume

    (February 13, 1929-July 31, 1981)
    Born in Santiago, Panama
    Commander of the Panamanian National Guard (1968-81)
    Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution (1968-81)
    Negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (1977) establishing a time frame for transferring control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama
    Died in an airplane crash

Why he might be annoying:

    He came to power in a military coup.
    He was the real ruler of the country while various presidents served as figureheads.
    He shut down the legislature and banned opposition parties.
    He made an unsuccessful attempt to unite several Central American nations into a Union of Banana Exporting Countries modeled on OPEC.
    He was noticeably drunk at the ceremony marking the ratification of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, slurring his speech and having to cling to the podium to steady himself.
    His death before his proposed political reforms had been implemented resulted in Panama remaining a military dictatorship until the end of the 1980s.
    Several conspiracy theories claim his fatal plane crash was no accident, with the main culprits being the CIA or Manuel Noriega (or both working in cahoots, of course).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He won a scholarship to the military academy in San Salvador.
    He said his interest in asserting Panamanian control over the Canal dated back to his childhood and 'I saw a Canal Zone policeman inspect my mother's baggage and he pushed her around disrespectfully.'
    He implemented agrarian reform policies, including redistributing uncultivated land.
    He denied being a Marxist, saying, 'I don't like Communism because it hands out wealth through rationing books.'
    Under pressure from the Carter administration and internal dissent, he reintroduced political parties and scheduled elections for 1984.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 31 Votes: 54.84% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying