Rubén Darío Paredes del Río (born 11 August 1933) is a

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 ...

nian army officer who was the military ruler of

from 1982 to 1983. Colonel Paredes came to power after the displacement of Colonel Florencio Flores, due to the instability of Panamanian National Guard after the death of

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, ...

.Panama: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
/ref> He was educated at the military academy in Nicaragua. Paredes' tenure as National Guard commander was from March 1982 to August 1983. Paredes was promoted to the rank of general on March 3. In August 1983, Paredes resigned over a dispute concerning the government's attitude towards the United States involvement in Nicaragua. He retired from the

Panamanian National Guard The Panamanian Public Forces ( es, Fuerza Pública de la República de Panamá) are the national security forces of Panama. Panama is the second country in Latin America (the other being Costa Rica) to permanently abolish standing armies, with Pa ...

after making a deal with

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'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...

that would make Paredes president. However, after his resignation, Noriega reneged on the deal and had him arrested. He ran unsuccessfully as president in the 1984 election as a candidate. Paredes is retired and lives in Panama City,

. His uncle, Rigoberto Paredes, was a member of the National Assembly in the 1980s and was alleged to be one of Noriega's closest allies. Rigoberto hosted a talk radio show on Radio BB in Panama City. Rigoberto Paredes died in 2007.

References

1933 births Living people People from Panama City Panamanian people of Spanish descent Panamanian military commanders {{NorthAm-mil-bio-stub