Background
Ernesto de la Guardia was born in Panama on 30 May 1904.
Ernesto de la Guardia was born in Panama on 30 May 1904.
He was educated in the United States, receiving a business administration degree from Dartmouth.
In spite of de la Guardia’s commendable record, he was generally unpopular because of the turbulence of the times. In April 1959 an invasion from Cuba was thwarted when the invading force surrendered. More seriously, on November 3, Panama’s Independence Day, Panamanian students “peacefully invaded” the Canal Zone to place Panamanian flags, leading to rioting in Panama City, with numerous injuries and major property damage. Although President Dwight Eisenhower ordered display of the Panamanian flag in the Zone, President de la Guardia was offended when he was not invited to raise the first flag.