Panama (PAN)Central America, AmericasNovember 20, 1949
Event Summary
On November 20, 1949, Panama's provisional president Daniel Chanis Pinzon was forced to resign under pressure from the powerful National Police chief, Colonel Jose Antonio Remon. Chanis, a physician who had become president after the August 1949 death of Domingo Diaz Arosemena, clashed with Remon after trying to remove him and after refusing to overturn a court ruling against a slaughterhouse tied to Remon's business interests. When Chanis tried to withdraw his resignation and reclaim office, police turned back his supporters with tear gas and gunfire.
Remon briefly installed Second Vice President Roberto Chiari, but after the Supreme Court sided with Chanis, Remon instead reached back to his old rival Arnulfo Arias, using the recounted 1948 election to install Arias as president on November 24. The episode showcased the National Police as the real arbiter of Panamanian power in this period.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Daniel Chanis Pinzon, President of Panama (forced to resign under police pressure)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Daniel Chanis Pinzon (president forced out)
Jose Antonio Remon (National Police chief, the power broker)
Roberto Chiari (briefly installed, then displaced)
Arnulfo Arias (installed as president on 24 November)
Sources
Daniel Chanis served as president from 28 July 1949 until 20 November 1949, when he was forcibly ousted by police chief Jose Remon, and was succeeded briefly by Second Vice President Roberto Chiari.
Chanis's presidency ended on 20 November 1949 when Police Chief Jose Remon led a coup in response to Chanis's refusal to overturn a Supreme Court decision invalidating a contract tied to Remon's business empire.
After the Supreme Court held that the succession of Second Vice President Roberto Chiari was illegal because Chanis had resigned under police duress, Colonel Remon on 24 November placed Arnulfo Arias in the presidency, clothing the November 1949 coup in a semblance of legality using the 1948 vote count.
SOURCE REVIEWEDU.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Vol. II, Document 838open source ↗
Filling a power vacuum left by U.S. nonintervention, the National Police under Colonel Remon toppled two hapless presidents in rapid succession before installing Arnulfo Arias on 25 November 1949.
INDIRECT CITATIONMichael Conniff, "Panama for the Panamanians: The Populism of Arnulfo Arias Madrid" (academic chapter)open source ↗
Editorial Note
The Cline dataset codes this as a forced resignation on 20 November 1949 with the leader not physically harmed, matching Chanis's ouster under police pressure. A primary FRUS document and an academic chapter were read directly; the biographical detail is drawn from a Wikipedia-based reference. Sources agree Remon was the decisive actor and that Arias was installed days later, an event the dataset would treat separately.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Daniel Chanis Pinzon, President of Panama (forced to resign under police pressure).
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“New Panama President Sworn in as Police ‘Strong man’ Wins Coup,” November 21, 1949
“SECRET POLICE ARREST PANAMA EX-PRESIDENT,” March 10, 1951
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →