Mireya Moscoso
Mireya Moscoso | |
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President of Panama | |
In office September 1, 1999 – September 1, 2004 | |
Vice President |
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Preceded by | Ernesto Pérez Balladares |
Succeeded by | Martín Torrijos |
Personal details | |
Born | Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez July 1, 1946 Arnulfista |
Spouses |
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Children | 1 |
Alma mater | Miami Dade College |
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez (born July 1, 1946) is a
Born into a rural family, Moscoso became active in the
During her tenure in office, she presided over the handover of the
Background
Moscoso was born into a poor family in
Arias went into exile in
Also in 1991, Moscoso married businessman Richard Gruber. The couple adopted a son, Richard[citation needed] (born 1992). Moscoso and Gruber divorced in 1997.[3]
Presidential campaigns
In 1994, Moscoso ran as the presidential candidate of her deceased husband's
Moscoso was named the PA candidate again in the May 2, 1999, general election. Her main opponent this time was Martín Torrijos, Omar Torrijos' son, named to represent the PRD after the failure of a constitutional referendum that would have allowed Pérez Balladares to run for a second term. Torrijos was selected in part to try to win back left-leaning voters after the privatizations and union restrictions instituted by Pérez Balladares.[6] Moscoso ran on a populist platform, beginning many of her speeches with the Latin phrase "Vox populi, vox Dei" ("the voice of the people is the voice of God"), previously used by Arias to begin his own speeches.[12] She pledged to support education, reduce poverty, and slow the pace of privatization.[2] While Torrijos ran in large part on his father's memory—including using the campaign slogan "Omar lives"[12]—Moscoso evoked that of her dead husband, leading Panamanians to joke that the election was a race between "two corpses".[8] Torrijos allies also criticized Moscoso for her lack of government experience or college degree.[8] However, unlike in 1994, it was now the PRD that was hampered by the scandals of the previous administration, and Moscoso defeated Torrijos with 45% of the vote to 37%.[6]
Presidency (1999–2004)
Moscoso took office on September 1, 1999.[13][14] Because she was divorced when she assumed the presidency, her older sister Ruby Moscoso de Young served as her First Lady.[15]
Facing a PRD-controlled
On December 31, 1999, Moscoso oversaw the handover of the
Moscoso worked to end Panama's role in international crime, passing new laws against money laundering and supporting tax transparency.[20][21] The legislation allowed Panama to be removed from international lists of tax havens.[21] Meanwhile, violent crime rose sharply during Moscoso's tenure.[21] In September 2000, under pressure from the US and some Latin American governments, Moscoso's government gave temporary asylum to former Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, who had fled Peru after being videotaped bribing a member of its congress.[20]
In December 2000, human remains were discovered at a Panamanian
During her term, Moscoso was often accused of nepotism for her administrative appointments[2] and faced several corruption scandals, such as the unexplained gift of US$146,000 in watches to Legislative Assembly members.[23] By 2001, her second year in office, Moscoso's approval rating had fallen to 23%, due to corruption scandals and concern for the economy. That year, she attempted to pass a tax reform package through the Legislative Assembly, but the proposal was opposed by both the private sector and organized labor.[24] In 2003, the US ambassador publicly criticized Moscoso for the growth of corruption during her term.[25] By the end of her term, her presidency was "criticized as rife with corruption and incompetence"[26] and "widely regarded as weak and ineffectual".[27]
She was criticized in 2004 when the press revealed that she had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at public expense on luxury clothing and jewelry during her presidency.[28]
Herself barred by the Constitution of Panama from a second consecutive term, Moscoso was succeeded by her former rival Martín Torrijos in the 2004 election. Shortly before leaving office, Moscoso sparked controversy by pardoning four men—Luis Posada Carriles, Gaspar Jiménez, Pedro Remon, and Guillermo Novo Sampol—who had been convicted of plotting to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro during a 2000 visit to Panama. Cuba broke off diplomatic relations with the country, and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez recalled the nation's ambassador.[29] Moscoso stated that the pardons had been motivated by her mistrust of Torrijos, saying, "I knew that if these men stayed here, they would be extradited to Cuba and Venezuela, and there they were surely going to kill them there."[30] Moscoso also issued pardons to 87 journalists for defamation convictions dating back as far as 14 years. On July 2, 2008, all of the 180 pardons Moscoso had issued were overturned as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.[31]
Post-presidency
During the Torrijos presidency, Moscoso remained an active member of the opposition. In September 2007, she criticized the appointment as the head of the National Assembly of PRD politician
Since leaving office, Moscoso has also served as a member of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Council of Women World Leaders,[34][35] a network intended "to promote good governance and enhance the experience of democracy globally by increasing the number, effectiveness, and visibility of women who lead at the highest levels in their countries."[36]
Honors
Foreign honours
- Italy
- Monaco: Knight Grand Cross of the
References
- ISBN 978-1-317-63939-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Mireya Moscoso". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Mireya Moscoso de Arias". Centro de Estudios y Documentacion Internacionales de Barcelona. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ Navarro, Mireya (May 4, 1999). "Woman in the News: Mireya Elisa Moscoso; Earnest Icon For Panama". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- ^ Harding 2006, p. 66.
- ^ a b c d Harding 2006, p. 129.
- ^ a b "Awaiting the lady". The Economist. August 28, 1999. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ a b c Mireya Navarro (May 3, 1999). "The Widow of Ex-Leader Wins Race in Panama". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Howard W. French (February 21, 1994). "Panama Journal; Democracy at Work, Under Shadow of Dictators". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
- ^ a b Douglas Farah (May 9, 1994). "Panamanians Vote in Peace, Picking Ex-Aide of Noriega; Millionaire Perez Balladares Bests Widow of Four-Time President". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
- ^ "Panama". University of Missouri-Saint Louis. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
- ^ a b Serge F. Kovaleski (May 3, 1999). "Moscoso Is First Woman Elected to Panamanian Presidency". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Gonzalez, David (September 2, 1999). "In Panama's New Dawn, Woman Takes Over". New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- ^ "Ex-First Lady of Panama Sworn In as President". Los Angeles Times. September 2, 1999. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
- ^ "Ninth Conference of Spouses of Heads of State and Government of the Americas". Summits of the Americas Secretariat. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ Harding 2006, p. 130.
- ^ Mireya-Moscoso, Encyclopædia Britannica, Retrieved July 7, 2007
- ^ a b Harding 2006, p. 131.
- ^ "Becalmed". The Economist. September 22, 2001. Archived from the original on October 30, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "Colombia and its neighbours". The Economist. October 7, 2000. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ a b c Harding 2006, p. 134.
- ^ "Truth Commission Delivers Its Final Report on Victims of the 1968–1988 Military Regime". NotiCen. May 2, 2002. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
- ^ Serge F. Kovaleski (January 18, 2000). "Panamanians Sound Alarm Over Gift Watches". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "President Mireya Moscoso asks legislature for tax reform, but prospects are dim". The Economist. March 15, 2001. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Not his father's son? Panama's new president". The Economist. May 8, 2004. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
- ^ Mary Jordan (May 2, 2004). "General's Son Leads in Panama". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Manifest destiny meets democracy". The Economist. May 1, 2004. Archived from the original on November 20, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ "Viajes, joyas y ropa, el sueño cumplido | la Prensa Panamá". October 23, 2004.
- ^ Steven R. Weisman (September 2, 2004). "Panama's New Chief, Sworn In, Inherits a Diplomatic Tempest". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Glenn Kessler (August 27, 2004). "U.S. Denies Role in Cuban Exiles' Pardon". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
- ^ Juan Zambrano (July 2, 2008). "Panama's Supreme Court overturns 2004 pardons, including of anti-Castro militant". Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- ^ Steve Inskeep (September 4, 2007). "Election of Panamanian Official Strains U.S. Ties". Morning Edition. National Public Radio. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- ^ Diana Cariboni (May 31, 2007). "Criticisms of Caracas Reveal Double Standard". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- ^ "MObama & the first ladies: Does she who rocks the pillow talk rule the world?". goldengirlfinance.ca. September 17, 2012. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ "Council of Women World Leaders Biographies" (PDF). The Wilson Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ "Council of Women World Leaders". The Wilson Center. December 15, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ "President and First Lady of Panama honoured by Constantinian Order at London Ceremony - Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George". Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- ^ Nomination by Sovereign Ordonnance n° 15902 of 25th July 2003 (French)
- ^ Nomination by Sovereign Ordonnance n° 15576 of 26th November 2002 (French)
Bibliography
- Harding, Robert C. (2006). The History of Panama. Greenwood Press. ISBN 031333322X.
- Skard, Torild (2014) "Mireya Moscoso" in Women of Power – Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0.
External links
- Biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)