1952 Panamanian general election

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Remón followed national tradition by enriching himself through political office. He broke with tradition, however, by promoting social reform and economic development. His agricultural and industrial programs temporarily reduced the country's overwhelming economic dependence on the canal and the zone.[4]

The 1953 electoral reform law in effect reduced the field of political parties to lineal descendants of the old Liberals and Conservatives. The government had required parties to enroll 45,000 members to receive official recognition.[5]

Remón's reformist regime was short-lived, however. On 2 January 1955 he was machine-gunned to death at the racetrack outside Panama City. On 14 January the First Vice-President, José Ramón Guizado, was impeached for the crime and jailed, but he was never tried, and the motivation for his alleged act remained unclear. Some investigators believed that the impeachment of Guizado was a smokescreen to distract attention from others implicated in the assassination, including United States organized crime figure Lucky Luciano, dissident police officers, and both Arias families. The Second Vice-President, Ricardo Arias Espinosa (of the aristocratic Arias family), served out the remainder of the presidential term and dismantled many of Remón's reforms.[6]