Ernesto Pérez Balladares

Who is Ernesto Pérez Balladares?

Ernesto Pérez Balladares González-Revilla, nicknamed El Toro, was the President of Panama between 1994 and 1999.

Educated in the United States, Pérez Balladares worked as a banker before becoming part of the government of military ruler Omar Torrijos; in 1989, he also served as campaign manager for the pro-Manuel Noriega presidential candidate Carlos Duque. He was elected president in 1994 as the candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, in a close three-way race with Arnulfista Party candidate Mireya Moscoso and salsa singer Ruben Blades.

Pérez Balladares' term was notable for free-market reforms and the privatization of government services. He also rehabilitated a number of officials from the Noriega years and sought a closer alliance with the United States than the previous administration of Guillermo Endara. Following a failed constitutional referendum to allow him a second term in office, Pérez Balladares was succeeded by Moscoso in 1999.

In 2009, prosecutors opened an investigation into charges of corruption dating to Pérez Balladares' time in office.