Belisario Porras Barahona

Belisario Porras Barahona (born November 28, 1856 in Las Tablas , † August 28, 1942 in Panama City ) was a journalist, politician and multiple President of Panama .

Life

Belisario Porras Barahona

Porras was born in Las Tablas, in central Panama, where he also received his first school education. After that, his parents sent him to the Colegio San Bartolomé in Bogotá , which gave him the opportunity to study law at the University of Bogotá from 1874 . Thanks to a grant from the Colombian government, he was able to finish his studies in Belgium .

Back in Panama, he joined the Liberal Party and worked as a journalist. Since large parts of Panama were under Colombian administration at that time and there were differences between him and the government, he went into exile to Nicaragua and then to El Salvador , where he taught as a professor of law and geography and continued to write for the local press . Nor did he lose contact with friends in the Liberal Party in Panama. In 1900 he went back to Panama and became the leader of the invasion of the territories occupied by Colombia. After initial success, however, he failed in the liberation of Panama City. After his defeat, he went back into exile and only returned after the liberation of Panama.

Porras returned in 1904 and worked as a government diplomat for the next few years. As a former liberation fighter, he was extremely popular with the people of central Panama. On October 1, 1912, he succeeded Pablo Arosemena Alba as the sixth President of Panama, which he remained for the entire term until October 1, 1916. His successor was Ramón Maximiliano Valdés , who was only able to hold office for about two years and was replaced by Ciro Luis Urriola , who was replaced after just 4 months by Pedro Antonio Díaz , who in turn was only for a term of 12 days brought. On October 12, 1918, Porras took over the office of President again and held it until January 30, 1920. Ernesto Tisdel Lefevre held the office for the remainder of the term of office. Porras became president for the third time on October 1, 1920, and remained so for the full four-year term. He was succeeded by Rodolfo Chiari .

During his time as president, Porras mainly took care of the consolidation and reorganization of the political institutions of the young nation and installed a new constitution. Another important concern for him was the construction of transport links and the improvement of communication options, as well as the construction of the Chiriqui Railroad . Health facilities and the spread of sanitary facilities enjoyed further priorities. He also founded the Santo Tomas public hospital , which subsequently became one of the most important and renowned clinics in Panama.

A macabre anecdote happened in the last days of his life. Marked by illness, he asked to be admitted to the hospital he had founded, but was turned away because of a lack of beds. He then went to a private clinic, where he died a few days later, on August 28, 1942.

Web links

• Biography ( Memento of October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)