ABSTRACT
Three factors have been crucial to understanding Panama's political and economic structure: the relationship between the urban areas and the countryside; the economic and political influence of foreigners; and the partisan political struggles that led to the 1968 military coup d'etat. The economic development strategy espoused by General Omar Torrijos after he assumed power in a military coup d'etat was influenced by these factors, but marked a significant departure from previous administrations' policies. Panama is the narrow land bridge that connects Central and South America. It contains both the narrowest and lowest terrain in the hemisphere between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A land reform program created hundreds of small collective farms, and provided financial and technical assistance to increase production of foal crops. Educational reform led to a new curriculum with a vocational emphasis, the construction of hundreds of rural schools, and more extensive training of new teachers. The state bureaucracy grew on an unprecedented scale.
