Ernesto de la Guardia Navarro (May 30, 1904 in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

– May 2, 1983 in Panama City) was

president of Panama This article lists the heads of state of Panama since the short-lived first independence from the Republic of New Granada in 1840 and the final separation from Colombia in 1903. Free State of the Isthmus (1840–1841) Republic of Panama ...

from October 1, 1956 to October 1, 1960. He belonged to the National Patriotic Coalition (CNP).

Early life and education

Born in

, he was educated at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in the United States, where he obtained a master's degree in finance.

Political career

He began his political career as a consul in the Costa Rican consulate in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. Prior to his administration, he held diplomatic positions, as well as serving as secretary of state and First Vice President from 1945 to 1948. He was considered a visionary of the Electoral Tribunal and other constitutional reforms, he earned a reputation as a leading advocate for Panamian democracy. During his administration, he was involved in disputes with the United States involving interpretations of the treaties regarding the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the ter ...

. On April 26, 1959, he faced an attempted coup planned by diplomat

Roberto Arias Roberto Emilio Arias (26 October 1918 – 22 November 1989), known as "Tito", was a Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat and journalist who was the husband of ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn. Arias was from a prominent Panamanian political fam ...

, nephew of deposed ex-president

Arnulfo Arias Arnulfo Arias Madrid (15 August 1901 – 10 August 1988) was a Panamanian politician, medical doctor, and writer who served as the President of Panama from 1940 to 1941, again from 1949 to 1951, and finally for 11 days in October 1968. Throu ...

and husband of famous British ballerina

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

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The coup, allegedly sponsored by

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

, was suppressed with help from the United States and other American countries.

Personal life

Navarro was married to Mercedes Galindo; they had two sons and a daughter.

Later life and death

After vacating the presidency, he was a member of the Academia Panameña de la Lengua (directing it in 1973 2), and directed the weekly ''Mundo Gráfico''. He died in Panama City in 1983 at the age of 78.

References

External links

Ernesto de la Guardia Short biography

1904 births 1983 deaths People from Panama City Presidents of Panama Vice presidents of Panama National Patriotic Coalition politicians {{Panama-politician-stub