Perez Vows New Image for Panama Party : Latin America: President sworn in, pledges to ‘close the unfortunate chapter’ of the Noriega years.

Ernesto Perez Balladares--eager to polish the image of his once-disgraced political party--was sworn in Thursday as president of a still-polarized Panama and vowed to “close the unfortunate chapter” of the dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega.

The inauguration of Perez, 48, a U.S.-trained banker, marked the return to power of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Noriega’s political arm until his ouster in a 1989 U.S. military invasion.

But Perez has sought to portray the Noriega years as an “aberration” and claims his party is reformed and committed to democracy.

A number of Noriega’s old cronies have roles in the government, however, and some diplomats and opposition politicians remain skeptical.

In one of his first acts as president, Perez announced pardons for dozens of jailed collaborators of the Noriega regime.

Although it was unclear how extensive the pardons will be--Perez listed several conditions for them--those in jail include military officers accused or convicted of human rights violations and the murders of a priest and one of Noriega’s harshest critics.

“It is critical that we close now the unfortunate chapter of Noriega and the persecution that followed the invasion,” Perez said after taking the oath of office before dignitaries from 40 countries.

He pledged to avoid the “judicial terrorism” that some members of the PRD feel they fell victim to after the invasion and the installation of the right-wing government of outgoing President Guillermo Endara.

Despite the PRD’s military history--it was founded by strongman Gen. Omar Torrijos, who was killed in a 1981 plane crash--Perez pledged to build a government free of militarism. “This is the new face that Panama is presenting to its foreign friends,” he said.

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The PRD-dominated national legislature on Thursday also elected Balbina Herrera as its president. Herrera, a staunch Noriega ally to the end, was the mayor of San Miguelito, a bastion of Noriega support before and after the invasion and led demonstrations against then-President George Bush in 1991 that turned violent.

“I must hail the Democratic Revolutionary Party, a party that could not be destroyed, a party that could not be conquered,” she proclaimed in her inaugural speech.

Perez announced he would increase the size of Panama’s police forces, rebuilt after the invading American troops dismantled the Panamanian army.

Perez is also seeking to curry U.S. favor by agreeing to accept up to 10,000 Cuban refugees. A formal agreement is expected to be announced today.

Perez won the election May 8, promising to do more for Panama’s poor. Two-thirds of the electorate voted for other candidates, including salsa star and actor Ruben Blades.