The execution of Victoriano Lorenzo, the Liberal leader who had
refused to accept the peace of Wisconsin, spurred on the idea of
final separation for the Isthmus of Panama. On July 25, 1903,
General José Vásquez Cobo, Panama's military commander and
brother of the Minister of Colombian War at that time, ordered
an assault on the publisher of the El Lápiz newspaper, where the
shooting of Lorenzo had been narrated in detail, along with some
veiled protests over the incident. This act provoked Cobo's
departure from Panama and led Panamanian Liberals to finally
realize that they had no guarantee or security under the
Colombian Conservative regime and brought them to join the ranks
of the secessionist conspiracy. Declaration of Independence On
November 3, 1903, independence was proclaimed in Panama City, a
decision that immediately found support with the rest of the
country, and the Panamanian society declared this territory as a
sovereign independent state under the name of the Republic of
Panama. The historical