Ricardo de la Espriella
| Ricardo de la Espriella | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of Panama | |
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In office 31 July 1982 – 13 February 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Aristides Royo |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Illueca |
| Vice President of Panama | |
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In office 11 October 1978 – 31 July 1982 |
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| Preceded by | Aristides Royo |
| Succeeded by | Arturo Sucre |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Ricardo de la Espriella Toral 5 September 1934 Panama City, Panama |
| Political party | Democratic Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mercedes Martinez |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Panama University |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Ricardo de la Espriella Toral (born 5 September 1934) was President of Panama from 31 July 1982 to 13 February 1984.
Ricardo de la Espriella is a Stanford-trained economist, and was a conservative head of the National Bank of Panama until he became Vice President in 1978, when the all-powerful National Guard pressed then President Aristides Royo (considered a dangerous leftist) to resign before his term ended in 1984. Since de la Espriella was head of the National Finance Commission before Royos's resignation, there was a matter of his involvement with a certain insurance fraud called the "Seguros Swindle", which cut of his came to $115,000. Being a competent financial manager, he posed no threat to the dominant influence of the National Guard, and wasted no time in referring to them as "a partner in power". Thus, de la Espriella was a type of "puppet" president and remained so under the brutal Manuel Noriega (Panama's first Chief of Intelligence, and then Guard commander when Rubén Darío Paredes resigned that title to start his own electoral campaign).
When de la Espriella took the oath as Interim President, the then-Commander Paredes immediately decreed that certain Panamanian papers be shut down, including La Prensa, which had become the country's conscience. De la Espriella ordered certain hoodlums to attack the newspaper, smashing the windows, typewriters, the head of a pressman, and an unfortunate unintended victim – the director of the Central American Institute of Business Administration, who had just come by with a press release from his institution. His suit and tie caused him to be mistaken for the "La Prensa" director.
In August 1982, de la Espriella formed a new cabinet that included independents and members of the Liberal Party and the PRD; Jorge Illueca, Royo's foreign minister, became the new vice president. Meanwhile, Colonel Armando Contreras became chief of staff of the National Guard, until December 1982, when Noriega took over that position.
The country had only a "democratic façade." President Ronald Reagan wrote de la Espriella a response "thank you" letter on "the situation in Central America", dated 26 July 1983, regarding a letter received by him from de la Espriella and the presidents of Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, written regarding a meeting held by the four in Cancún on 17 July 1983. Reagan's "thank you" also outlined 4 points the United States expected the "Contadora Four" (as they were called) to follow.
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