[2] Thus, de la Espriella was a type of "puppet" president and remained so under Manuel Noriega (Panama's first Chief of Intelligence, and then guard commander when Rubén Darío Paredes resigned that title to start his own electoral campaign).

In August 1982, de la Espriella formed a new cabinet that included independents and members of the Liberal Party and the PRD; Jorge Illueca, Royo's foreign minister, became the new vice president.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, de la Espriella not only appeared as president, but as a "mediator" or "interpreter of events" whenever Noriega hovered.

But by 1984, de la Espriella was pressured by the National Defense Forces, according to close friends, to reorganize his Cabinet to include supporters of an official candidate.

Koster & Guillermo Sanchez, 1990, W.W. Norton & Co., N.Y., pages 302-303 state (not verbatim): " ...de la Espriella was given a list of replacements for his cabinet, but balked at naming them... On 13 February, he was with his family in Chiriquí Province.