Guillermo “Billy” Ford served as Vice-President of Panama from 1989 to 1994 but he was best remembered for this classic photo, which shows him beaten by thugs in the employ of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Then a VP candidate, Ford and his presidential running-mate, Guillermo Endara, had defeated Noriega’s party in the democratic elections a few days prior.
At the end of a rally in support of Endara, a band of Noriega’s Dignity Battalion — nicknamed “Dig Bats” and called “Doberman thugs” by U.S. President Bush — attacked the crowd with wooden planks, metal pipes and guns. They grabbed a bodyguard of Ford, pushed him against a car, shoved a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. They also batted Ford’s head with a spike-tipped metal rod and pounded him with heavy clubs, turning his white guayabera bright red with blood — his own, and that of his dead bodyguard.
The photo taken by Ron Haviv (AFP) became one of the most famous images of 1989. It was put on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News. It was the beginning of the end for Noriega. Ford embarked on a tour of Europe to meet British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Italian Prime Minister Giulio Adreotti and Pope John Paul II. In December 1989, citing danger to the Canal, President Bush decided to invade Panama. There, at Fort Clayton, Panama, surrounded by 24,000 U.S. troops, heavy tanks and Combat Talon AC-130 gunships, Guillermo Endara, was sworn in as the President.
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[…] military dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega; a role that has been engraved for history with an iconic photograph, taken when he was being beaten by defenders of the military […]
[…] military dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega; a role that has been engraved for history with an iconic photograph, taken when he was being beaten by defenders of the military […]
[…] in Panama in 1989 and unleashed his so-called “dignity battalions” on peaceful demonstrators, the OAS was silent. Twenty-five years later, an organization that is supposed to “promote and defend democracy” […]
[…] in Panama in 1989 and unleashed his so-called “dignity battalions” on peaceful demonstrators, the OAS was silent. Twenty-five years later, an organization that is supposed to “promote and defend democracy” […]
[…] Manuel Noriega se robó las elecciones en Panamá en 1989 y lanzó a sus llamados “Batallones de la Dignidad ” contra los manifestantes pacíficos, la OEA guardó silencio . Veinticinco años más tarde […]
PRIMERO ASESINARON A SU CHOFER Y EL LOGRA SALIR DEL CARRO Y ES CUANDO LO MALOGRAN ERAN LAS BRIGADAS DE CHOQUE DE NORIEGA LOS BATALLONES DE LA DIGNIDAD, ASI SE LLAMABAN FORMADAS DE ASESINOS, EXCONVICTOS, SICOPATAS, BAGOS Y MALEANTES , CON LA LLEGADA DE LOS MARINES DEJARON EL PELERO SOLTARON LAS ARMAS Y HUYERON,
POSTERIORMENTE SIGUIERON DELINQUIENDO ERA SU OFICIO HAMPA COMUN.