Hugo Spadafora
Hugo Spadafora | |
|---|---|
Chitré, Herrera, Panama | |
| Died | September 13, 1985 (aged 45) La Concepción, Chiriquí, Panama |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, Commander of the Victoriano Lorenzo Brigade, Physician and Vice-Minister of Health in Torrijos' regime |
Hugo Spadafora Franco (September 6, 1940 – September 13, 1985) was a Panamanian physician and guerrilla fighter in Guinea-Bissau and Nicaragua.[1] He criticized the military in Panama, which led to his murder by the government of Manuel Noriega in 1985.[1]
Biography
Born in Chitré, Spadafora was a physician, graduated from the University of Bologna, in Italy.[1] He served as a combat medic with the independence guerrilla of Guinea-Bissau during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence.[1] Originally a critic of the military regime headed by Omar Torrijos, he served as its Vice-Minister of Health. In 1978, he organized the Victoriano Lorenzo Brigade, formed by a group of up to 1200 Panamanian fighters to fight against the Anastasio Somoza Debayle regime in Nicaragua.[2][3]
Concerned about the increased Soviet and
The brutality of the murder shock many and it was a contributing factor to the deterioration of relations between the US and Noriega. 4 years after the murder, the US under president George H. W. Bush would overthrow Noriega by invading Panama in 1989.
It was not until the administration of President Guillermo Endara in 1989, that a court found Noriega (in absentia) and other followers guilty of a conspiracy to murder Spadafora.
In 2013, his biography Hugo Spadafora: Bajo la Piel del Hombre was published by Amir Valle, a Cuban journalist, literary critic and writer exiled in Germany.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kinzer (2007: 242–244)
- ^ Weathers, Jr., Bynum E. (1983). Guerrilla Warfare in Nicaragua, 1975-1979 (PDF) (Report). Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education. p. 37. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- S2CID 247623108.
- ISBN 978-1-888363-93-7.
- ^ Usi, Eva (November 7, 2018). "Amir Valle: 'Volveré a Cuba cuando nadie me imponga condiciones'". Deutsche Welle (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
References
- Kinzer, Stephen (February 2007). Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq (Paperback). Times Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-8240-1.