Guillermo Endara - Opposition To Noriega

Opposition To Noriega

In the presidential election of 1989, Endara ran as the candidate of the Democratic Alliance of Civic Opposition (ADOC), a coalition of parties opposed to autocratic military leader Manuel Noriega. His rival was Carlos Duque, a candidate selected by Noriega. After the voting concluded, opposition poll-watchers, an international coalition of observers led by former US President Jimmy Carter, and a separate group of observers appointed by US President George H.W. Bush reported that Endara's coalition was leading by a 3-to-1 margin. However, the results were annulled by the Noriega government before counting was complete.

The next day, Endara and his running mates, Ricardo Arias Calderón and Guillermo Ford, led a contingent of a thousand supporters to protest the annulment of the elections and urge that the ADOC candidates be recognized as the winners. The protest was attacked by a detachment of Dignity Battalions, a paramilitary group supporting Noriega, and the three candidates were badly beaten. Endara was struck with an iron club, leaving a gash on his head. He was briefly hospitalized and received eight stitches. Images of the attacks on Endara and Ford were carried by media around the world, and were credited with building public support in the US for the invasion that would soon follow.