PANAMA: Mr Martin Torrijos, business executive and son of a former dictator, strolled to victory in Panama's first presidential election since the handover of the Panama Canal and the withdrawal of US troops in December 1999.
Mr Torrijos secured 47 per cent of the vote in a weekend poll marked by a high turnout as 77 per cent of voters took part despite heavy rains. Former president Mr Guillermo Endara finished second with 30 per cent while Mr José Miguel Alemán, candidate for the governing party, secured just 17 per cent of votes cast.
Mr Torrijos lost the previous election to President Mireya Moscoso but his Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) now enjoys a parliamentary majority, as the ruling party has been weakened by corruption scandals and rising unemployment.
Mr Torrijos pledged to fight corruption, create jobs and rebuild trust in state institutions and stressed his determination to maintain Panama's position as a country with a canal "at the service of world trade." The future president, who assumes office in September, described current free trade talks with the United States as "a great opportunity for Panama to have access to the US market" but insisted that the interests of domestic producers must be protected.
Mr Torrijos's father, Gen Omar Torrijos, led a military coup in 1968 and was a popular figure who flirted with left-wing causes. In 1977 he negotiated the return of the Canal Zone, controlled by the US for almost a century.