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"Soon we are going to disappear, severely judged; but on our own scum the work of redemption of those below will rise, to which consciously or unconsciously we have all cooperated" (Mariano Azuela, Epistolario).
Under the operational motto Operation Just Cause, the historiography of what happened on December 20, 1989, when by order of former US President George H. W. Bush the military invasion of Panama began, with more than 26,000 troops, evidences the vision "of those at the top." ", the winners. But it omits the other actors, "those from below", military and civilians who confronted each other convinced that "the country defends itself" against the great power of arms.
These are the missing pieces to complete the puzzle. Those voices that have not been heard by a society that relegated them for years.
But, after the massive protests against the mining contract, for the first time those stigmatized feel vindicated, young people see them with different eyes and scrutinize the list of events of the forgotten homeland, the one that was governed and directed by the military from the barracks. . And they are doubting what they have been repeatedly told.
They identify with the fight of General Omar Torrijos for the recovery of the canal strip and also with that of the youth of 1964 who shed their blood to fly the Panamanian flag in the area controlled by the United States. It is bearing fruit, and good ones.
And, "those at the top" don't like that, because the story can take an unusual turn. The concept "colonial enclave" sounds very bad to Panamanians.
Ramón Díaz, a military graduate in Ecuador and then trained in Israel, receives the invasion with his group located at strategic points. They remained on a war footing without retreating positions to the enemy. However, his story changes.
The message from an emissary notifies him that his son was in the hands of the US army as a "hostage" and that he had to make a decision. He sends his position through the same channel: lay down your arms and surrender.
It was his life for that of his little one, less than three months old. For him: "A mother should never have empty arms." At that time, Díaz was unaware that his little one was with his mother safe and sound.
The newborn and his nanny were "protected" by the US army when they entered, on December 19, 1989, Díaz's residence in search and arrest.
For 10 hours, both were kept in a trench, during heavy fighting due to the resistance of the Panamanian soldiers to hand over their weapons.
A day later, the Panamanian military raises the white flag as a sign of surrender after running out of projectiles; and the American soldiers took advantage of the impasse to deposit the little boy in his custody, under the protection of an Anglican pastor.
While his desperate mother summons two journalists, from EFE and AP, and recounts her nail, the news circulates and international human rights organizations request the delivery of the minor to the mother.
Hours after the commotion caused by the moving story, the communicators were summoned by General Marc Cisneros and he gave them a report on the condition of the minor and his companion: "They are well with the pastor's family." The journalists ask the soldier to hand the child over to his mother, who was breastfeeding him. 24 hours later, both reporters accompanied Díaz's wife, who, through tears and gratitude, received the minor from the pastor.
Díaz surrenders on December 29, 1989 to American General Marc Cisneros, who tells him, in perfect Spanish:
- "You are a good soldier. You know the code of war, but I must hand you over to Panamanian justice."
He was aware that he had been judged and condemned beforehand. During his trial he remained silent and paid his years in prison. Now, it is up to them, "those below," to tell his story.
Today, Eloy is a 34-year-old professional who is proud of his father and for Díaz it is his greatest reward.
This decision did not please "those at the top." On March 31, 2022, President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen signed the law that decrees December 20 as a Day of National Mourning and "adopts national awareness measures regarding the United States invasion of Panama on December 20, 1989." Forbidden to forget.
