Eric Arturo Delvalle

Eric Arturo Delvalle, was sworn in as president of Panama in 1987. During his presidency, Delvalle brought a Torah scroll from Jerusalem and donated it to the Spanish- Portuguese synagogue in Panama City, Kol Shearith Israel, of which he was a member. His uncle, Max Delvalle, became president of Panama in 1969. In an address he delivered after his election, he said, "Today there are two Jewish presidents in the world - the president of the State of Israel and I." On the day of his inauguration, the British ambassador to Panama told him that Delvalle's inauguration as a Jewish president reminded him of Benjamin Disraeli. To which President Delvalle replied, "Yes, but Disraeli was only a prime minister. I am the president of a country."