Nicolás Ardito Barletta Vallarino (born 21 August 1938) is a Panamanian politician, served as its 26th President of Panama from 11 October 1984 to 28 September 1985, running as the candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) in the contested elections of 1984.

Barletta Vallarino attended North Carolina State University, where he obtained in 1959 a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering, and later an M.Sc.

[citation needed] The election was the country's first after 16 years of military rule, something that had been agreed to during US negotiations that led to the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty in 1977.

U.S. legislators Representative Hank Brown and Senator Edward Zorinsky, alongside Ambassador Everett Ellis Briggs opposed the intervention in the election by U.S. government-funded organizations.

When the initial results showed Arias, who had the support of much of the opposition, on his way to a landslide victory, Manuel Noriega, the military strongman, halted the count.

[9] On 16 May 1984, the district results were finally tallied by the Electoral Tribunal and Ardito Barletta was declared the winner by 1,713 votes, defeating Arias.

In his inaugural address, the newly elected president pledged to repair the economy, fight corruption, and unite Panama's political parties.

During his tenure, the Defense Forces promised support to his program but effectively undermined the negotiations Ardito Barletta was pursuing with industrialists, labor leaders, and other business groups to achieve some economic reforms.

While Ardito Barletta was visiting New York City, government critic Hugo Spadafora was found brutally murdered and decapitated.

Relatives of Spadafora claimed that witnesses had seen him in the custody of Panamanian security forces near the Costa Rica border immediately before his decapitated body was found on 14 September 1985.