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1925 Tenant Movement
Soldiers of the 33rd U.S. Infantry in Santa Ana Park, Panama City, 12 October
Location	Republic of Panama Panama City Colón
Caused by	High cost of rent, rent increases
Goals	Rent reductions
Methods	Rent strike, labour strike, protest
Parties
Liga de Inquilinos y Subsistencia de Panamá Government of Panama National Police Panama Canal Zone 33rd U.S. Infantry

The 1925 Tenant Movement (Spanish: Movimiento inquilinario de 1925), also known as the 1925 Tenant Strike (Spanish: Huelga inquilinaria de 1925), was a rent strike, and series of labor strikes and other demonstrations in the Republic of Panama. The Tenant Movement was primarily active in the cities of Panama City and Colón, and was organized to achieve rent reductions.

The Tenant Movement began when the formation of the Liga de Inquilinos y Subistencia ("Tenants' League") in June 1925 to fight against high and increasing rents. The Tenants' League organized a rent strike which began on 1 October. On the 12 October, the United States intervened to suppress the strikes.

History

On 11 February 1925, Law No. 29 was enacted, which saw a minor increase in property taxes in Panama. Following the increase, many landlords disproportionately hiked rents. Issues were exacerbated for tenants due to the undersupply in housing stock, as well as the existing housing stock often being small, cramped, and unsanitary.

In June, the Liga de Inquilinos y Subistencia ("Tenants' League") was formed. The League was formed with involvement of the new Sindicato General de Trabajadores ("General Workers' Union"), with the League operating as an autonomous affiliate of the Union. In addition to Panamanian citizens, there were also a number of foreign people—some living in exile—within Panama who were active in the Tenants' League. Some leading members of the League were deported in August, and again in September.

Rent Strike

The Tenants' League called for a rent strike starting on 1 October in Panama City. On 9 October, the Strike spread to Colón.

The League decided to organize a rally within Santa Ana Plaza at 20:00 on 10 October. Despite having previously allowed demonstrations by the League, City Mayor Mario Galindo forbid the rally. The members of the Tenants' League sent a petition to Mayor Galindo to rescind the order, but he refused. The Tenant League's demonstration went ahead regardless, at which National Police shot strikers, killing four people and wounding at least seven. 28 people were arrested by police. One funeral the next day was attended thousands of people.

Early 12 October, the acting Governor of the Panama Canal Zone declared that only danger to American life or property, or the request of the Government of Panama, would result in United States military intervention (under the provision of Article 136 of the 1904 Constitution of Panama the US held the constitutional right to intervene in Panamanian affairs as it saw fit). President Rodolfo Chiari requested the US support in suppressing the strikes, and at 13:30 on 12 October, three battalions of the 33rd U.S. Infantry Regiment crossed from Fort Clayton in the Canal Zone into the Panama, ordered to break apart any gathering of more than five people. At first the request was for US soldiers to support local police, but the resulting US intervention was conditional on being given full authority of command.

The Tenants' League demanded the 150 imprisoned tenants released, and that the police who killed strikers were punished.

Some workers—namely bakers, butchers, chauffeur drivers, and street car drivers—decided to undertake labor strikes for lower rents, with The Workman reporting that a general strike had been declared. The work stoppage by chauffeur drivers and street car drivers heavily disrupted traffic within Panama City. In addition numerous volunteer fireman quit.

In an effort to end the rent strike, a Rent Claims Commission was formed to mediate cases between tenants and landlords, with representatives of both sitting on the commission. The commission first met on 22 October. Despite intention for the commission to meet daily, by 28 October the commission had not met for a second time.

On 21 October, the US State Department decided it would withdraw troops, doing so on 23 October. The US Panama Canal Division Commander William Lassiter had hoped for US occupation to be prolonged so as to pressure President Chiari into conducting mass evictions.

On 27 October, President Chiari met with tenants telling them to produce a list of conditions which would end the strike, however ruling out releasing any arrested tenants. The same day, five imprisoned tenants began a hunger strike.

Aftermath and legacy

The Superior Judge of the Republic ruled that some members of the League were to be tried for crimes against the homeland, and others for resisting authorities. The Superior Judge also exonerated the police of wrongdoing for their killings.

At least 16 people who had immigrated illegally were deported following the strike.

Despite President Rodolfo Chiari efforts to reduce tenants' rents, rents continued to increase and In August 1932 a new Liga de Inquilinos organized another rent strike.

Footnotes

1. Various English language sources name the organisation differently Liga de Inquilinos y Subistencia differently. These translations include:
   • Tenants' League
   • Renters League
   • League of Tenants
   • League of Rent Payers

See also

• 2022 Panamanian protests
• 1964 anti-American riots in Panama

References

1. ^ Major, John (1993). Prize possession: the United States and the Panama canal, 1903-1979. Cambridge university press. pp. 151–153. ISBN 978-0-521-43306-8 – via Internet Archive.
2. ^ "US fights Panama renters' strike". Working Class History. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
3. ^ Mónica, Guardia (18 October 2015). "El Movimiento Inquilinario de 1925: el poder de las masas". La Estrella de Panamá (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 November 2024.
4. ^ Lindsay-Poland, John (2003). Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama. Duke University. pp. 41–42. ISBN 0-8223-3098-9.
5. Cuevas, Alexander (1975). "El Movimento Inquilinario De 1925" (PDF). Panamá, dependencia y liberación (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana. pp. 31–75 – via bdigital.binal.ac.pa.
6. de Medina, Leticia S. (29 October 2023). "Recordando al Movimiento Inquilinario de octubre 10, 1925". La Estrella de Panamá (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 November 2024.
7. ^ "Tenants' League and Police Clash Results In Four Deaths and Several Wounded". The Workman. Vol. 14, no. 10. 17 October 1925. pp. 1, 8 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
8. ^ "U.S. Soldiers in Panama City". The Evening Independent. Vol. 18, no. 294. United News. 13 October 1925. p. 1.
9. ^ Martin, Gerald (12 October 1925). "U.S. Soldiers Rule Panama". Chicago Daily Tribune (published 13 October 1925). pp. 1–2 – via Internet Archive.
10. "American Soldiers Guard Panama City; Asked by President Chiari After Rent Riots". The New York Times. 13 October 1925. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 November 2024 – via Internet Archive.
11. ^ Martin, Gerald (14 October 1925). "Landlords Cut Rent in Panama to Calm Rioters". Chicago Daily Tribune. Vol. 84, no. 245 (published 15 October 1925). p. 5 – via Internet Archive.
12. ^ "Troops Quit Panama City; Mixed Commission Starts Work to Adjust Rent Differences". The New York Times. Vol. 7, no. 24746 (published 25 October 1925). Associated Press. 24 October 1925. p. 38 – via Internet Archive.
13. ^ "Items of Interest Local & Foreign". The Workman. Vol. 14, no. 11. 24 October 1925. p. 1 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
14. ^ "The House Rent Question". The Workman. Vol. 14, no. 11. 24 October 1925. p. 4 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
15. ^ "Rent Strike is Still Unsettled". The Panama American. Vol. 1, no. 22. 28 October 1925. p. 8 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
16. "Troops to Leave Panama". St. Croix Avis. 7 November 1925. p. 3 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
17. ^ "Judge Rules Holding of Meeting was Offense". The Panama American. Vol. 1, no. 49. 25 November 2024. p. 1 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
18. "Sub-Chief of Police Not Guilty". The Workman. Vol. 14, no. 14. 14 November 1925. p. 8 – via Digital Library of the Caribbean.
19. "16 Deported in Panama Strike". The New York Times. Vol. 75, no. 24753. Associated Press. 1 November 1925 – via Internet Archive.
20. • "Fights Are Expected In Panama Rent Strike". The New York Times. 5 August 1932. p. 6.
    • "Newsboys Aid Rent Strike". The New York Times. 8 August 1932. p. 8.
    • "Act In Rent Strike.; American and British Ministers in Panama Call on President". The New York Times. 11 August 1932.

Further reading

• Zumoff, J.A. (October 2017). "The 1925 Tenants' Strike in Panama: West Indians, the Left, and the Labor Movement". The Americas. 74 (4): 513–546. doi:10.1017/tam.2017.88. ISSN 0003-1615.
• Wood, Andrew; Baer, James A. (August 2006). "Strength in Numbers: Urban Rent Strikes and Political Transformation in the Americas, 1904-1925". Journal of Urban History. 32 (6): 862–884. doi:10.1177/0096144206289347. ISSN 0096-1442.
• Shaffer, Kirwin R., ed. (2020), "Bolivarianismo anarquista: Anarchist Pan-Americanism in the Heart of the Hemisphere", Anarchists of the Caribbean: Countercultural Politics and Transnational Networks in the Age of US Expansion, Global and International History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 214–251, doi:10.1017/9781108773706.008, ISBN 978-1-108-48903-4, retrieved 11 November 2024
• Pearcy, Thomas L. (1996). "Panama's Generation of '31: Patriots, Praetorians, and a Decade of Discord". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 76 (4): 691–719. doi:10.2307/2517949. ISSN 0018-2168. JSTOR 2517949.
• Conte-Porras, Jorge; Castillero-Lange, Eduardo Ernesto (1998). Historia de Panamá y sus Protagonistas (in Spanish). Distribuidora Lewis. pp. 187–190. ISBN 978-9962-602-00-2 – via Internet Archive.

External links

• Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States: Assistance by United States troops in quelling riots in Panama City

• Rent strikes
• Social movements in Panama
• Housing in Panama
• 1920s in Panama
• Panama City
• Colón, Panama
• Military operations involving the United States