PANAMA CITY : New Face for Panama
Panamanians will vote Sunday in their first presidential election since a U.S. military invasion ousted strongman Gen. Manuel A. Noriega in December, 1989.
Ernesto Perez Balladares, candidate of the party that backed Noriega, leads in the polls, while entertainer Ruben Blades is surging into a strong second position in the last week of campaigning. Blades, known as the salsa king of Latin music, has long taken an interest in his country’s politics.
The winner replaces Guillermo Endara, whose election victory in May, 1989, was annulled by Noriega, but who was given the office after the American invasion. Under Panamanian law, a president cannot succeed himself.
The new president is expected to oversee the delivery of the Panama Canal to full Panamanian control before the year 2000.
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