Panamanian Patriot. Born to a father who was effectively governor to the local indigenous population, he received a basic education of literacy and mathematics from a Jesuit priest. He first met Belisario Porras while accompanying his father to Panama City on government business. After a few years in the city, he returned to his home township of El Cacao (district of Penonome), where he married and was appointed alderman. In 1890, he was involved in a physical dispute with Colombian Councilman Pedro Hoyos, regarding the collection of taxes from the indigenous peoples, which resulted in the death of Hoyos. Lorenzo surrendered and was tried. He was defended by Carlos A. Mendoza, who argued that societal pressures prompted violence from the marginalized. He was convicted and served nine years imprisonment in Panama City's Las Bovedas (The Vaults). His return to a life of farming in El Cacao was short lived. He was called upon by Belisario Porras to assist the Liberal cause in the War of the Thousand Days. He led his indigenous troops on raids, garnering armaments, and at the Battle of Aguadulce. He was promoted to General in 1901. When the Liberal army was defeated at Calidonia Bridge, he and his men returned to Cocle with the arms they had acquired. Conservative forces destroyed El Cacao in a search for both Lorenzo and the armaments. He retreated to the mountains where he continued to wage guerrilla warfare on surrounding ranches and Conservative camps. An armistice agreement was signed between the Liberals and Conservatives on board the “USS Wisconsin” on November 21, 1902. However, Lorenzo and his men refused to surrender. He was arrested for insubordination and brought before a court martial. In a matter of only two days, he was tried, convicted, and executed by firing squad in what is now the Plaza de Francia (very near Las Bovedas). He was denied a coffin and taken to the cemetery in a mule cart. Lorenzo's place in Panama's history is subject to some debate. Some view him as more the leader of a class revolt by the indigenous poor against the white wealthy. In this station, he merely collaborated with the separatist movement and was ultimately betrayed and murdered by official sanction. In 1966, the National Assembly officially recognized him as a national hero and his execution as unjust. (It should be noted that during General Lorenzo's lifetime, Panama remained a department of Colombia. Independence was declared on November 3, 1903.)