Panama Says Sorry For
Military Rule, Decades On
PANAMA (Agence France-Presse) - Panama's
President Ricardo Martinelli's government on
Monday issued Panama's first apology by a
democratic administration for the Central
American nation's 1968-1989 military
dictatorship, more than 20 years after it
ended.
"We have a responsibility as the State to
deliver for you, and so with this act and
our presence here, we ask for your
forgiveness in the name of the Panamanian
state," said Vice President Juan Carlos
Varela, at a ceremony honoring one of the
dictatorship's victims, Heliodoro Portugal.
"This is a ceremony in honor of all the
missing from the military dictatorship. And
it is a ceremony that makes us reflect, and
ask forgiveness as a state, and urge all
Panamanians to recognize our mistakes, and
turn the page on this chapter" of Panama's
history, said Varela.
He said Panamanians should learn from the
country's mistakes "so that they never
happen again."
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