national

Local fighter for justice honored

Victoriano Lorenzo will be remembered as a hero who fought against the injustices imposed on the poor people of his native region.

LA PRENSA

The barracks Lorenzo built1025353

Communities in the province of Coclé are commemorating the life and struggle of Victoriano Lorenzo today, a charismatic leader who fought vigorously for the liberation of the campesino masses in the early nineteenth century.

Lorenzo was born in the province of Coclé in 1867, before Panama gained independence from Colombia and became a separate country, and was shot to death in Panama city in 1903 on the orders of the powerful Colombian central authority, the Partido Conservador.

Lorenzo began fighting against the injustices and inequities imposed by local strongmen on the unfortunate people of his region at an early age.

The local hero will be honored in the community of El Cocal in La Negrita, beginning at 9:00 a.m. today, with folkloric presentations and other events involving local schools and authorities. Karla Jaramillo, a member of the organizing committee, said the community remembers Lorenzo every year with the objective of making sure that the tradition is not lost and that new generations can learn about and appreciate their region's history

You can still see the trees where Lorenzo used to hang his hammock and take a siesta, surrounded by armed men with bayonets, said Cayetano Flores, a resident keeper and narrator of the warrior's history. Lorenzo and his troops wanted "to eradicate their nearest enemies from the lands of La Negrita," said Flores, "who were the conservative fighters."

From El Vigía, a small mountain not far from El Cocal, Lorenzo was able to communicate with his men in the barracks below by using mirrors, alerting them to the enemy's advance. A plaque at the summit of El Vigía honors the fallen hero. Twelve stout stone columns were raised at the barracks to symbolize the twelve soldiers who shot him.

Lorenzo took part in the so-called 1000 Days Way (1899-1902) between liberal forces fighting for land and freedom and the conservative army of the Colombian republic. The armed conflict led eventually to Panama's independence from Colombia.