The day he decreed that merchantmen of Panamanian registry should not be armed, Panama's President Arnulfo Arias was on his way out of his country. Three days later Panama had a new, pro-U.S. President. To cynics this seemed like a first-class example of U.S. interference in the domestic affairs of a Latin American country. In fact, it was not.
The coup that deposed U.S.-educated,* U.S.-hating Dr. Arias was the almost inevitable result of President Arias' own nationalistic pipedreams. The coup had been simmering for weeks.
Though President Arias hated to admit it, the...
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