Guillermo Endara, Who Helped Lead Panama From Noriega to Democracy, Dies at 73
Guillermo Endara, who suffered electoral fraud, a cracked skull and hunger on his path to succeed the strongman Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega as leader of Panama in 1989, then helped steer the country to democracy, died Monday at his home in Panama City. He was 73.
The Associated Press reported that Mr. Endara had diabetes and kidney ailments and had been hospitalized recently for dialysis treatment.
As the leader of a reform coalition, Mr. Endara appeared to have won a decisive victory in the Panamanian elections of May 1989 when General Noriega nullified the results. General Noriega unilaterally installed his own president.
Mr. Endara, a corporate lawyer known for his humility, responded by leading a street protest that ended in a bloody confrontation with the so-called Dignity Battalions, squads controlled by General Noriega. Mr. Endara was hit on the head with a steel pipe, opening his scalp and causing a mild concussion. His two vice-presidential candidates were also beaten.
“I won’t back off one inch,” Mr. Endara said then at a news conference as he sat in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown.
He kept fighting back, first by urging Panamanians to protest by suspending payment of taxes and utility bills. He went on a hunger strike, which attracted popular attention partly because of Mr. Endara’s considerable girth. General Noriega railed about “the hunger strike clown,” but the United States ambassador addressed him as president.
Mr. Endara was estimated to have dropped 30 of his 265 pounds in the hunger strike.
The denouement came in December 1989 when the United States invaded Panama to remove General Noriega, who had been indicted in American courts for drug trafficking and had himself declared war on the United States. At the request of the Americans, Mr. Endara was sworn in as president at a United States military base shortly after troops began to move in. He had to rely on a United States government fax machine to announce his installation to the world.
Time magazine observed that “his fledgling regime distinctly bore the label ‘Made in U.S.A.’ ” Always sensitive to any hint of Yankee imperialism, Latin American governments, including Communist Cuba and Chile’s right-wing military regime, sharply criticized the United States’ action and the new Panamanian government — even though some of these countries had severely castigated General Noriega.
Mr. Endara said in a 1990 interview with The New York Times that it would have been easy for him to refuse the presidency under the circumstances. During his campaign, he himself had opposed American military action, but he decided to accept...
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The Associated Press reported that Mr. Endara had diabetes and kidney ailments and had been hospitalized recently for dialysis treatment.
As the leader of a reform coalition, Mr. Endara appeared to have won a decisive victory in the Panamanian elections of May 1989 when General Noriega nullified the results. General Noriega unilaterally installed his own president.
Mr. Endara, a corporate lawyer known for his humility, responded by leading a street protest that ended in a bloody confrontation with the so-called Dignity Battalions, squads controlled by General Noriega. Mr. Endara was hit on the head with a steel pipe, opening his scalp and causing a mild concussion. His two vice-presidential candidates were also beaten.
“I won’t back off one inch,” Mr. Endara said then at a news conference as he sat in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown.
He kept fighting back, first by urging Panamanians to protest by suspending payment of taxes and utility bills. He went on a hunger strike, which attracted popular attention partly because of Mr. Endara’s considerable girth. General Noriega railed about “the hunger strike clown,” but the United States ambassador addressed him as president.
Mr. Endara was estimated to have dropped 30 of his 265 pounds in the hunger strike.
The denouement came in December 1989 when the United States invaded Panama to remove General Noriega, who had been indicted in American courts for drug trafficking and had himself declared war on the United States. At the request of the Americans, Mr. Endara was sworn in as president at a United States military base shortly after troops began to move in. He had to rely on a United States government fax machine to announce his installation to the world.
Time magazine observed that “his fledgling regime distinctly bore the label ‘Made in U.S.A.’ ” Always sensitive to any hint of Yankee imperialism, Latin American governments, including Communist Cuba and Chile’s right-wing military regime, sharply criticized the United States’ action and the new Panamanian government — even though some of these countries had severely castigated General Noriega.
Mr. Endara said in a 1990 interview with The New York Times that it would have been easy for him to refuse the presidency under the circumstances. During his campaign, he himself had opposed American military action, but he decided to accept...