Panamanian President. He served as President of the Republic of Panama for three terms (1912 to 1916, 1918 to January 1920, and October, 1920 to 1924). Born in Las Tablas, he was raised primarily by his grandmother. He attended school in Bogota, Colombia at the Colegio de San Bartolome and the National University of Bogota, receiving his Doctorate of Law and Political Sciences in 1881. He furthered his education at the University of Louvain, Belgium, courtesy of the Colombian government. After returning to Panama, he worked as a journalist and became active in the Liberal Party. This ultimately resulted in his exile to Nicaragua and El Salvador by the Conservatives. Tensions between the parties culminated in the Thousand Days War. In 1900, Porras mounted an invasion of the isthmus from Costa Rica, easily reaching Panama City. He was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Calidonia Bridge and returned to exile. He returned following Panama's 1903 independence, only to be temporarily stripped of his citizenship due to his opposition to the Canal treaties and separation from Colombia. He worked in a number of minor government posts, before receiving appointments as delegate to the International Court at the Hague, Ambassador to Costa Rica, and Ambassador to the United States in the cabinet of President Pablo Arosemena. After becoming president in 1912, he limited the power of the Catholic Church in government affairs, taking over the responsibility of education and refusing public funding of seminaries and missions. For this, he was duly excommunicated by Archbishop Rojas. Overall, his tenures were marked by a focus on improving the general infrastructure of the still fledgling nation, as schools, hospitals, banks, and laws were still sorely inadequate. His administrations were responsible for establishment of the Plaza de Francia, the National Bank, St. Thomas Hospital, the National Archives, the Civil and Public Registries, the National Codes, reconstruction of the Post Office and telegraph lines, construction of the Chiriqui Railroad, and the nationalization of the very popular Panama Lottery. His first marriage to Eva Paniza Arosemena, with whom he had five children, ended in divorce. He then married Costa Rican Alicia Castro, with whom he had four children. He fathered four additional children outside of his marriages. To commemorate the man and his accomplishments, the Belisario Porras Museum was established at his birthplace in Las Tablas.