Background
Marco Aurelio Robles was born on 8 November 1905 in Panama city.
Marco Aurelio Robles was born on 8 November 1905 in Panama city.
He tried to continue the Liberal Party’s comeback in the wake of the assassination of strongman José Antonio Remón by convincing his fellow oligarchs of the need for reform, a message backed by pressure from the United States. He sponsored relatively mild tax reform and a modest agrarian reform, which had the effect of splitting the Liberal Party.
Robles’ task was complicated by nationalistic passions aroused by the Panama Canal issue. Violent rioting in January 1964, before he took office, had strained U.S.-Panamanian relations severely. Negotiations with the United States for a series of treaties on the status and operation of the existing canal, defense of it, and construction of a sea-level canal, explicitly recognizing Panama’s sovereignty over the Isthmus, made progress until 1967, when unofficial texts of the treaties were leaked to the press. Public outcry against the proposed terms caused Robles to refuse to submit the treaties to the National Assembly.