Ernesto de la Guardia
President of Panama (1904-1983)
Ernesto de la Guardia Navarro (30 May 1904 – 2 May 1983) was president of Panama from 1 October 1956 to 1 October 1960. He was a member of the National Patriotic Coalition (CNP).
Early life and education
Born in Panama City, he was educated at Dartmouth College 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. 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. On 26 April 1959, he faced an attempted coup planned by diplomat Roberto Arias, nephew of deposed ex-president Arnulfo Arias and husband of famous British ballerina Margot Fonteyn. The coup, allegedly sponsored by Fidel Castro, 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.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q708367. VIAF identifies the subject as 38269786. The Library of Congress control number is n82144636. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1904, 1983, 1956 and 1960.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ernesto de la Guardia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.