Ana Mae Diaz

Who is Ana Mae Diaz?

Ana Mae Diaz de Endara was the First Lady of Panama from 1990-1994.

A Panamanian of Chinese origin, Diaz met future president Guillermo Endara in September 1989, while he was on hunger strike to protest the autocratic military rule of Manuel Noriega. Diaz was a law student at the time. Marcela Endara, Guillermo's wife of 28 years, had died in June of a heart attack while Endara was hospitalized due to a beating by Noriega's forces. International observers had reported Endara to be the clear leader in the May presidential election, and during the US invasion of Panama in December, he was sworn in as president.

Panamanian newspapers began to publish photographs of Diaz and Endara together in January 1990, and Endara told press the pair were "going out". The pair married on June 11, 1990, in a wedding attended by the ambassadors of various nations. Endara was reportedly so happy in the marriage that he would even leave cabinet meetings for a "quick cuddle". Due in part to the couple's difference in ages and weights—Endara was in his mid-fifties and known for his weight—the marriage received widespread coverage and mockery in the Panamanian press, including a new nickname for Endara, El Gordo Feliz.