Carlos Alberto Duque Jaén (March 12, 1930 – October 31, 2014) was a Panamanian businessman and politician who was President-for-Life of Panama's Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD). He was a presidential candidate for the PRD in the 1989 presidential election.

1989 presidential candidacy

A former business partner of military ruler

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...

, Duque was selected by Noriega to head the pro-Noriega Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) in 1988. The following year, he stood as the party's presidential candidate. Future PRD president

Ernesto Pérez Balladares Ernesto Pérez Balladares González-Revilla (born June 29, 1946), nicknamed ''El Toro'' ("The Bull"), is a Panamanian politician who was the President of Panama between 1994 and 1999. Educated in the United States, Pérez Balladares worked as ...

served as his campaign manager. Duque's primary rival for the presidency,

Guillermo Endara 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 s ...

, ran atop the ticket of the Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (ADOC), a coalition of parties opposed to Noriega. After the voting concluded, international observers reported that Endara's coalition was leading by a 3-to-1 margin, but the results were annulled by the Noriega government before counting was complete. Noriega had planned to declare Duque the winner regardless of the actual results. However, by this time Duque knew he had been comprehensively defeated by Endara and refused to go along. The next day, Endara and one of his running mates,

Guillermo Ford Guillermo "Billy" Ford Boyd (November 11, 1936 – March 19, 2011) was the Second Vice President of Panama. He was one of the running mates of presidential candidate Guillermo Endara during the 1989 Panamanian election campaign. The election ...

, were badly beaten by a detachment of

Dignity Battalions Dignity Battalions ( es, Batallones de la Dignidad) were paramilitary militia units created by Panama's ''de facto'' ruler Manuel Noriega in April 1988 to augment the Panama Defense Forces in defending Panama against possible invasion by the Unit ...

, a paramilitary group supporting Noriega. Endara was struck with an iron club and was briefly hospitalized, receiving eight stitches. Images of the attack on Endara and Ford were carried by media around the world, and were credited with leading up to the US invasion that would soon follow.

Post-election career

Duque was an opponent of the 1989

US invasion of Panama The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos� ...

which deposed Noriega, calling it "the biggest error" and urging "nationalist parties" to battle US forces. Several months after the invasion, US federal prosecutors accused Duque's company, Transit S.A., of funneling millions of dollars in kickbacks to the former ruler from a coffee-smuggling operation. In 1999, he worked on the campaign of PRD presidential candidate

Martín Torrijos Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino (; born July 18, 1963) is a Panamanian politician who was President of Panama from 2004 to 2009. He was fathered out of wedlock by Panamanian military ruler Omar Torrijos, the ''de facto'' head of Panama from 1968 ...

, son of former military ruler

Omar Torrijos Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard and military leader of Panama from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, ...

. Martín Torrijos lost the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

that year to

Mireya Moscoso Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez de Arias (born July 1, 1946) is a Panamanian politician who served as the President of Panama from 1999 to 2004. She is the country's first female president. Born into a rural family, Moscoso became active in t ...

, but went on to win in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duque, Carlos 2014 deaths Panamanian politicians 1930 births