Guillermo Endara

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Endara and the second or maternal family name is Galimany.

Guillermo David Endara Galimany (May 12, 1936 – September 28, 2009) was a Panamanian politician who served as the President of Panama from 1989 to 1994. Raised in a family allied to Panameñista Party founder Arnulfo Arias, Endara attended school in exile in the United States and Argentina following Arias's removal from power. Endara later received a law degree in Panama. He subsequently served as a member of Panama's National Assembly, and briefly as a government minister before heading into exile again following Arias' third overthrow.

Guillermo Endara
32nd President of Panama
In office December 20, 1989 – September 1, 1994
Vice President	Ricardo Arias Calderón (1989–1992) Guillermo Ford (1992–1994)
Preceded by	Manuel Noriega (as military leader)
Succeeded by	Ernesto Pérez Balladares
Personal details
Born	Guillermo David Endara Galimany (1936-05-12)May 12, 1936 Panama City, Panama
Died	September 28, 2009(2009-09-28) (aged 73) Panama City, Panama
Political party	Panameñista Party Moral Vanguard of the Fatherland
Spouse(s)	Marcela Cambra Navarro (1961–1989) Ana Mae Díaz (1990–2009)
Children	Marcelita Endara
Alma mater	University of Panama New York University

After Arias' death in 1988, Endara became a leading opponent of the Manuel Noriega military dictatorship, heading the opposition coalition in the 1989 presidential election. Though his coalition was judged by international observers as having defeated pro-Noriega candidate Carlos Duque, the results were annulled by the government, and Endara and his running mates were attacked in the streets by the paramilitary Dignity Battalions. The assaults received widespread coverage in international media, helping to build support within the U.S. for military action against Noriega. Seven months later, the United States invaded Panama. Endara was sworn in as the new president on the first night of the invasion on a U.S. military base.

During his presidency, Endara abolished the Panamanian military and replaced it with a national police force. Endara's term saw steady economic growth and a return of democratic institutions, but also high unemployment rates. His administration was marked by internal fighting, and his popularity plummeted. He was succeeded by opposition candidate Ernesto Pérez Balladares on September 1, 1994.

Endara ran for office again in 2004 and 2009, but lost to Democratic Revolutionary Party candidate Martín Torrijos and to independent candidate Ricardo Martinelli. He died of a heart attack on September 28, 2009, several months after his last campaign.

Early life and career

Endara was born in 1936 in Panama City, Panama.^[1] His father, Guillermo Endara Paniza, was an ally of Authentic Panameñista Party founder Arnulfo Arias, and the family went into exile after Arias was overthrown in a 1941 coup.^[2][3] Endara went to school in Argentina and to Black-Foxe Military Institute in Los Angeles in the United States,^[3] where he was described as being a "brilliant student".^[1] He later attended the University of Panama Law School, where he graduated first in his class, and New York University.^[1]

He returned to Panama in 1963 to practice law, and specialized in labor law.^[1] He co-founded the firm of Solis, Endara, Delgado and Guevara, one of Panama's most successful law firms.^[2] He won his first public office in 1964, but declined to take it due to evidence of voter fraud in the election.^[3]

Endara later served two terms in the National Assembly.^[1] In 1968, Endara served as minister of planning and economic policy during Arias's very brief third term as president. When Arias was overthrown again in October 1968, Endara went underground, was jailed briefly in 1971, and joined Arias in exile until 1977.^[1][2] Endara remained politically engaged and when Arias died in 1988, Endara became a leading opposition figure.^[2]

Opposition to Noriega

In the presidential election of 1989, Endara ran as the candidate of the Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (ADOC), a coalition of parties opposed to military ruler Manuel Noriega. His rival was Carlos Duque, a candidate selected by Noriega.^[4] The US government contributed $10 million to Panamanian opposition campaigns, though it was unknown whether Endara received any of this money.^[5]

To safeguard against planned vote-rigging by Noriega, ADOC organized a count of results from the country's election precincts before they were sent to the district centers. It showed Endara trouncing Duque by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. Noriega's cronies took phony tally sheets to the district centers, but by this time the opposition's count was already out.^[6] International observers led by former US President Jimmy Carter and a separate group of observers appointed by US President George H. W. Bush also agreed that Endara had won a decisive victory.^[4][7] Noriega had planned to declare Duque the winner regardless of the actual results, but Duque knew he'd been routed and refused to go along.^[6] Regardless, Noriega annulled the results before counting was complete due to "foreign interference."^[4]

The next day, Endara and his running mates, Ricardo Arias Calderón and Guillermo Ford, led a contingent of a thousand supporters to protest the annulment of the elections and urge that the ADOC candidates be recognized as the winners. The protest was attacked by a detachment of Dignity Battalions, a paramilitary group supporting Noriega, and the three candidates were badly beaten.^[1][8] Endara was struck with an iron club, leaving a gash on his head.^[8] He was briefly hospitalized and received eight stitches.^[8][9] Images of the attacks on Endara and Ford were carried by media around the world, and were credited with building public support in the US for the invasion that would soon follow.^{[1][2][10][dubious ]}

Presidency (1989–1994)

 

Bill Clinton with Presidents of Central American nations on the state floor of the White House

The US armed forces overthrew Noriega's government during the US invasion of Panama in December 1989. Endara had by this time taken refuge in the military bases under US control.^[2] American officials told Endara that if he did not accept the presidency, the only alternative would be an undisguised American occupation.^[11] Though Endara had opposed US military action during his campaign, he accepted the presidency, stating later that, "morally, patriotically, civically I had no other choice".^[2] He was certified the winner of the election and inaugurated at Fort Clayton, a United States military base, on December 20, 1989. Arias was inaugurated as first vice president, and Ford as second vice president.^[12] Unlike previous rulers Omar Torrijos and Noriega, Endara appointed only whites to ministerial positions, excluding Panama's large mestizo population and other ethnicities.^[13]

Seen as a restorer of democracy, Endara was later noted for having defended freedom of speech and democratic institutions.^[14] He also oversaw a reform of the Panamanian Defense Forces, purging Noriega loyalists, asserting the primacy of the civilian government, and returning the group from military to a national police force. In October 1994, the National Assembly passed an amendment abolishing the military at Endara's urging, becoming the second Latin American country to do so.^[15]

In early 1991, the ADOC coalition began to unravel as Endara, Arias, and Ford publicly criticized one another. On April 8, accusing Arias's Christian Democratic Party of not rallying to his support during an impeachment vote, Endara dismissed Arias from the cabinet.^[12] Arias resigned from the vice presidency on December 17, 1992, stating at a news conference that Endara's government "does not listen to the people, nor does it have the courage to make changes". Endara responded that Arias's resignation was "demagoguery" and "merely starting his 1994 political campaign ahead of time".^[16]

Endara's term in office saw marked economic recovery from the nation's years of military rule.^[17] During his presidency, Panama had an average annual economic growth of 8%.^[14] However, unemployment also rose near 19%.^[18] In February 1990, the overweight Endara began a hunger strike in the Metropolitan Cathedral to call attention to the nation's poverty and to pressure US President George H. W. Bush to dispense previously pledged American aid. In the course of the strike, he lost more than 14 kilograms (30 lb) of his 120 kilograms (260 lb).^[2][19]

By May 1992, Endara's public approval rating had fallen from its initial 70% to only 10%.^[20] The Associated Press later described Endara's administration as being "tarnished by scandal".^[17] Among other financial scandals, Endara's wife Ana Mae Diaz was accused of reselling food that had been donated by Italy on the streets of Panama City.^[21] In 1992, Diaz won $125,000 in the national lottery and indicated that she intended to keep the money rather than donating it; the incident was also cited as an example of the Endara's administration's lack of concern for Panama's poor.^[18]

Later career

In 2004, Endara broke with the Arnulfista party over differences of opinion with the party's leader, Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso, and accused the party of corruption. He ran in the 2004 presidential election as the candidate of the Solidarity Party, on a platform of reducing crime and government corruption.^[17] His primary rival was Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) candidate Martín Torrijos, son of the former military dictator Omar Torrijos. Martín Torrijos ran on a platform of strengthening democracy and negotiating a free trade agreement with the US, and was supported by popular musician and politician Ruben Blades. Endara finished second, receiving 31% of the vote to Torrijos' 47%.^[22]

He later founded his own political party, the Moral Vanguard of the Fatherland, and in 2009 was again a candidate for the Panamanian general elections.^[23] Ricardo Martinelli of the Democratic Change party won the election with 61% of the vote, while PRD candidate Balbina Herrera won 37%. Endara placed a distant third, with 2% of the vote.^[24]

Just a few months later, on September 28, 2009, Endara died at the age of 73 in his apartment in Panama City, of a heart attack while preparing dinner.^[19][25] He was given a state funeral on September 30 attended by President Martinelli as well as former presidents Perez Balladares, Moscoso, and Torrijos.^[26]

Personal life

Endara married his first wife Marcela, in 1961; the couple had one daughter, Marcelita, and three grandchildren, Javier, Marcela Victoria and Jacob. Marcela died of a heart attack in 1989 while Endara was hospitalized from the attack by the Dignity Brigades.^[2] He remarried on June 11, 1990, at the age of 54, to Ana Mae Diaz Chen, a 22-year-old law student of Chinese origin.^[2][27] Endara was reportedly so happy in the marriage that he would even leave cabinet meetings for "a quick cuddle". The marriage received widespread coverage and mockery in the Panamanian press, including a new nickname for Endara, El Gordo Feliz ("Happy Fatty").^[19]

References

1. Douglas Martin (September 30, 2009). "Guillermo Endara, Who Helped Lead Panama From Noriega to Democracy, Dies at 73". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
2. Phil Davison (October 2, 2009). "Guillermo Endara". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
3. Ana Teresa Benjamin (September 29, 2009). . La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
4. "Endara's Coalition Faces Difficult Test". Albany Times Union. Associated Press. December 21, 1989. Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
5. Stephen J. Hedges (May 12, 2002). "U.S. pays PR guru to make its points". Chicago Tribune. from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
6. Koster, R.M.; Guillermo Sánchez (1990). In the Time of the Tyrants: Panama, 1968–1990. New York City: Norton. ISBN 0-393-02696-5.
7. Storer H. Crowley (May 8, 1989). "Fraud Charges Mar Big Panama Vote". Chicago Tribune. from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
8. Gregory Katz (May 11, 1989). "Panama Violence Spreads Thugs Attack 3 Anti-noriega Candidates". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
9. "Panama declares election result void; Endara hurt". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 11, 1989. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
10. Myra MacPherson (January 30, 1990). . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
11. Harding 2006, p. 114.
12. Kenneth Freed (May 6, 1991). "Panama's 3-Party Rule Turns Into 3-Ring Circus". Los Angeles Times. from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
13. Harding 2006, p. 120.
14. Kathia Martinez (September 29, 2009). . Boston Globe. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
15. Harding 2006, p. 121.
16. . Caribbean Update. February 1, 1993. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
17. Mark Stevenson (May 2, 2004). . Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
18. Tod Robberson (November 17, 1992). The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
19. "Guillermo Endara". The Telegraph. October 2, 2009. from the original on November 13, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
20. Harding 2006, p. 123.
21. . Caribbean Update. October 1, 1994. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
22. . The Economist. May 8, 2004. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
23. Arnulfo Franco (March 17, 1990). . Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
24. Juan Zamorano (May 4, 2009). . Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 20, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
25. Jose Gonzalez Pinilla; Eliana Morales Gil (September 29, 2009). . La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 2, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
26. Leonardo Flowers and Eliana Morales Gil (October 1, 2009). La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
27. "Panama president, law student marry". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. June 11, 1990. from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2012.

Bibliography

• Harding, Robert C. (2006). The History of Panama. Greenwood Press. ISBN 031333322X.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guillermo Endara.

• Biography in Spanish by CIDOB Foundation

Political offices
Preceded by Francisco Rodríguez	President of Panama 1989–1994	Succeeded by Ernesto Pérez Balladares