José Antonio Remón Cantera

José Antonio Remón Cantera (1908 - 2 January, 1955), was president of Panama from 1 October 1952 until his murder — by machine-gun fire at a Panama City racetrack - on 2 January, 1955. He belonged to the National Patriotic Coalition (CNP).

Beginning in 1953, his administration began to negotiate amendments to the Panama Canal treaty with the U.S. administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. These negotiations led to an agreement, ratified in 1955, that substantially raised the annual annuity paid to Panama (from $430,000 to $1.9 million) and resulted in the handover of approximately $20 million in property from the Panama Canal Company to Panama.

General José Remón was the man behind the scenes of several coups that ousted Dr. Arnulfo Arias from power, and arguably the true founder of the social reforming militarism that was later dubbed "Torrijismo" after General Omar Torrijos. "Neither millions nor alms — we want justice" was Remón's most memorable statement of principles. Remón went on to be elected President of Panama in his own right but was assassinated on January 2, 1955. The crime was never solved.

Investigation of his murder

The circumstances concerning Remón's death were mysterious. During the initial investigation an American, Martin Irving Lipstein, was arrested, but later released when lawyer Rubén O. Miró confessed to the crime on January 12, 1955. Lipstein also had an alibi, with several witnesses having seen him in places far away from the racetrack at which Remón was killed (the Hipódromo Juan Franco), at about the same time.

The investigations led to the indictment of Jose Ramón Guizado, Remón's Vice President and successor. Guizado became involved in the affair when Miró accused him of being the mastermind behind the murder. Later, when Miró, the alleged perpetrator of the assassination was acquitted, Guizado was finally released from jail on December 10, 1957.

Although the crime has never been formally solved, the opinion in Panama that the material killer was Miró remains.

Recently declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency reveal that Remón might have been killed on the orders of Lucky Luciano over a dispute involving a shipment of heroin, which Remón allegedly stole from Luciano's organization.