Omar Torrijos Regime in Panama 1968–1981 and the Economic Integration of Latin America

Studies of military regimes in Latin America usually examine the history of local political systems and regional economic integration separately, occasionally pointing to the negative impact of military protectionism on integration processes. The novelty of the article lies in the study of Panama’s place in the process of regional economic integration, and due to the lack of works on this topic in the Russian historiography, its aim is to analyse the impact of the political institutions created by the military regime of Omar Torrijos on the economic integration of the Latin American region. In order to do so, it is necessary to examine the integration associations that existed in the region from the point of view of the results they achieved and to determine the extent to which these processes were directly or indirectly influenced by the economic reforms implemented in Panama during this period, as well as by its foreign policy. The topic’s relevance is due to the great importance of the region in the world economy, as well as the interest of many researchers in gained experience in the economic integration of developing countries and the transition from authoritarianism to democracy regarding the results achieved and whether it is applicable to other regions. The work uses content analysis, statistical analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, discourse analysis, historical genetic and historical comparative methods based on UN statistics, international indices, regulations and international treaties. According to the author Omar Torrijos regime actions in Panama influenced the integration processes rather positively, which is not a typical consequence of military rule noted in researches on local military regimes.