Manuel Solís Palma (3 December 1917 in

Los Santos Province Los Santos () is a province in Panama, reaching from the La Villa river in the North to the Pacific Ocean in the south and east. It is part of the Azuero Peninsula, bounded by the Herrera Province, province of Herrera to the north and northeast, ...

– 6 November 2009) was the acting

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 of Panama from Colombia, separation from Colombia in 1903. Since 1904 the head of state of ...

from 26 February 1988 to 1 September 1989, under the military rule of

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno ( , ; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially serv ...

. He served as education minister in several administrations, and worked on the 1968 presidential campaign of

Arnulfo Arias Madrid 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 ...

. In February 1988, Noriega promoted Solís from education minister to president after the firing of president

Eric Arturo Delvalle Eric Arturo Delvalle Cohen-Henríquez (2 February 1937 – 2 October 2015) was a Panamanian politician. He served as Vice President under Nicolás Ardito Barletta. Following the disputed 1984 election, and after Barletta's forced resignation, ...

. The US administration of president

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

refused to recognize Solís or the diplomats representing him as legitimate. In May, the administration offered a deal in which Noriega would leave office in exchange for the US dropping drug charges against him; however, the Panamanian military rejected the terms, which gave no guarantee that Solís would retain power. Solís served until 1 September 1989, shortly before the

US invasion of Panama The United States invaded Panama in mid-December 1989 during the presidency of George H. W. Bush. The purpose of the invasion was to depose the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama, General Manuel Noriega, who was wanted by U.S. authorities for racket ...

which deposed Noriega. He was later described as one of a series of Noriega's puppet rulers, nicknamed the "Kleenex presidents" in Panama due to their "disposability". In 1994, he was pardoned by President

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 attend ...

for any crimes committed during the Noriega years. In the administration of

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 19 ...

(2004–2009), Solís served again as advisor to the education minister. He died on 6 November 2009, aged 91, from

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema (British English: oedema), also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive fluid accumulation in the tissue or air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. This leads to impaired gas exchange, most often leading to shortness ...

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

References

External links

Manuel Solís' obituary
1917 births 2009 deaths People from Los Santos Province 20th-century presidents of Panama Respiratory disease deaths in Panama Deaths from pulmonary edema Education ministers of Panama Democratic Revolutionary Party politicians {{Panama-politician-stub