Torrijos. El Hombre y el mito. (Torrijos: The Man and the Myth)

Reviewed by Laura Torres, Arlington, MA -- Críticas, 4/1/2008

García-Márquez, Gabriel & Graciela Iturbide.
U.S.: Umbrage. 2007. 103p. ISBN 978-1-884167-68-3. $39.95. BIOGRAPHY

Gen. Omar Torrijos was larger than life, but Mexican photographer Iturbide caught him in quiet moments out in the Panamanian countryside. Taken in the Seventies, her black-and-white photographs show him bathing in the river, speaking with a local, and sitting on the ground, shirt open, soft belly exposed. Yet despite these presumed vulnerabilities, a macho, self-confident swagger leaks out of the images. In other photos, Iturbide's camera shifts to reflect a bit of awe and respect for the man considered responsible for single-handedly returning the Panama Canal to Panama’s people. They feature Torrijos in uniform, in deep reflection as cigar smoke plumes around him, or peeling a fruit in quiet deliberation. García Márquez briefly introduces Torrijos’s political life, retelling anecdotes like the general's reaction to his meeting with President Jimmy Carter regarding the canal. At first, Torrijos recalls, he puffed up with pride at Carter's flattering words. But then he said to himself, "Shit, this must be vanity," and he did not allow himself to be taken in by diplomatic smoothness. García Márquez observes that the general was most at home outside of Panama City. He spoke with the campesinos with incomparable honesty and ease. Much like the photographs themselves, Torrijos comes across as contradictorily "natural" and yet also mystifying. Overall, this is a deeply human portrait of an extraordinary Latin American leader. Recommended for academic and public libraries.