When Pituka Ortega Heilbron was still editing «Los puños de una nación», she asked me to sit through the documentary to give suggestions and advice, which I did. She had previously asked me to work as co-scriptwriter, but I had refused because I thought that she was ready enough to be her own writer and, most importantly, for reasons I would later explain. During our work session I remember mentioning that I felt that the words used to describe Gen. Omar Torrijos were somehow unfair, and not in accordance to Panamanian people's perception of the deceased leader. She consulted with husband-producer Pedro Heilbron, who decided to stick to the definition of Torrijos as «dictator», a term mostly used by Panamanian plutocrats and middle class. It's been a long time since 2004, I have heard and read interesting reports and literature on Latin American politics, including testimonies by Carl Sagan, and economic hit-man John Perkins' opinion about Torrijos and his death. So when I recently watched the film again I was disappointed, and my appreciation of this documentary on Panamanian boxing champion Roberto Durán changed. The reasons I previously referred to are that I do not like boxing, and above this that I always felt that the nationalistic appeal made through Durán's fights was a deplorable way to assess whatever the Panamanian idiosyncrasy is. In the end, this is what the documentary is all about. We hear testimonies from relatives, trainers, managers, journalists —all boxing fans, without a single objective opinion about the implications behind the «sport»— that express their admiration for Durán's technique, but there are never new considerations or refreshing points of view about this questionable way of exalting nationalistic feelings: through fists, boxing matches and punches. It even adheres to the fallacy of Torrijos' death as the consequence of an aviation accident, when —after being rumored for years— Perkins admitted that Torrijos was killed by jackals hired by the CIA. On the other hand, Ortega makes use of the traditional ways patriotic fervor is arisen in Panama: Rubén Blades' most irritating songs (as «Patria»), the folkloric music of Azuero (a South-Central region with manifestations that have been established as «the official Panamanian culture», leaving out all the diverse expressions of native cultures that still exist in Panamá, as the Guna, the Ngöbe-Bugle, the Emberá, and others, not to mention Afro-Panamanian expressions). It is an interesting documentary, but with philosophical limitations due to a traditional and rather superficial analysis, and a point of view aligned to Panamanian oligarchy, quite obvious in both the opening and end credit sequences, mentioning the «de luxe» appearances by foreigners twice, while excluding common people as Duran's mother (Clara Samaniego) and trainer (Héctor Quiñones), only identified when they talk directly to camera.
