1. Balbina Del Carmen Herrera Arauz was born on c 1955 and is a Panamanian politician and presidential candidate in the 2009 Panamanian general election.
11 Facts About Balbina Herrera
1. 2.
Balbina Herrera finished studies in the National Institute and the University of Panama, where she obtained her bachelor's degree with honours in Agronomy Engineering.
3.
In 1996, Herrera supported President Ernesto Perez Balladares's bill to grant amnesty to 950 former officials of military ruler Manuel Noriega, dismissing criticism of the bill as an attempt by fractured opposition parties to find a new common cause.
4.
Balbina Herrera was elected as President of the National Assembly in 1994, the first woman to hold the post.
5.
Balbina Herrera served as chairwoman of the Parliamentary Trade Commission in 1998, calling on pharmaceutical companies to rein in rising prices or face government price controls.
6.
The commission faced opposition from the PRD-controlled National Assembly, who slashed its funding, and from Balbina Herrera, who threatened to seek legal action against the president for its creation.
7.
In 2001, Balbina Herrera led opposition to President Mireya Moscoso's appointment of former Interior Minister Winston Spadafora to the Supreme Court.
8.
Balbina Herrera served as the PRD candidate for President of Panama in the 2009 election.
9.
Balbina Herrera won her party's primary on September 7,2008, defeating Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro with a ten-point lead.
10.
Balbina Herrera was endorsed by Ruben Blades, a popular salsa musician who had previously run for president and served as Torrijos' Minister of Tourism, and was initially considered the favorite for the presidency.
11.
However, Balbina Herrera was badly damaged in the election by her "reputation as a henchwoman of General Manuel Noriega" and by the perception that she was a "Chavista", a supporter of leftist Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.