Interestingly, one of the major political figures in Panama of the last century, Arnulfo Arias, was an open admirer of fascism who toured Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s. Arias was elected president in 1940 but was soon overthrown in a US-backed coup because of his refusal to give permission for additional US bases.*
It was a bit difficult for Arias to espouse Hitler’s racial ideas entirely, since although he was mostly (but probably not entirely) of European ancestry himself, most of his electorate were mestizos. He did, however, attempt to disenfranchise Panamanians of Chinese and black West Indian ancestry. I’ve been told that his position was that the “true” Panamanian was the mestizo, and that these other groups deserved discrimination because they formed their own communities and refused to mix!
*Arias was later elected twice more, and overthrown both times, and also had two elections stolen from him by fraud. Panama’s most recent previous president was Arnulfo’s widow. Of Panama’s two major political parties today, one was founded by a (literal) fascist, and the other by a military dictator (Omar Torrijos, father of the present president).
Interesting indeed, Colibri. If I may nitpick a procedural point, though, I think you shoulda put quote marks around your quoted text from Mein Kampf that appears to be attributed to the poster David Simmons.
My apologies if this created any misunderstanding. Based on a great deal of evidence from other threads, I was probably much too optimistic in assuming people would have actually read the previous posts in this one.
FWIW, here’s a photo of the Arnulfo Arias Memorial in Balboa in the former Canal Zone, which was erected a few years ago. Arnulfo is the giant figure beckoning to his diminutive followers. Panama has some truly appalling examples of public statuary, but this one takes the cake. It is really a fitting monument to the guy, though, in its excreble bad taste and the fact that it’s already starting to corrode.
According to the book I cited earlier the Kriegsmarine tried aiming a radar set at a 45° angle so they could view the British Fleet at Scapa Flow. Like you said, that was a few more marks down the tube.
