The caricature of democracy that remains after the murder of Dr. Spadafora

38 years ago, the decapitated body of Hugo Spadafora was found by a Costa Rican farmer near the border with Panama. The entire country convulsed and took to the streets to demand justice for the brutal murder, committed and ordered by officers and high command of the Defense Forces. The ruthless act marked the beginning of the end of the military government, led by the late Manuel Antonio Noriega. Panama would not be the same: street protests began to be frequent and the pressure of a people determined to recover their democracy grew until, in December 1989, the tyrant was overthrown by the United States. Since then, the country has enjoyed a democracy that, over time, has been violated, since democracy is not only about winning elections: it is about respecting the will of the voters, and with each government, they are mocked by politicians who do not feel the slightest respect for a past that cost the lives of dozens of compatriots, and who – like Hugo Spadafora – even sacrificed their lives to inherit us a free and democratic country. Today, we honor the maximum sacrifice of the guerrilla doctor and repudiate, at the same time, the caricature of democracy that the successors of that dictatorship force us to live. – LA PRENSA, Aug. 13.