A Panamanian of Chinese origin,[2] Diaz met future president Guillermo Endara in September 1989, while he was on hunger strike to protest the autocratic military rule of Manuel Noriega.[3] Diaz was a law student at the time.[4] Marcela Endara, Guillermo's wife of 28 years, had died in June of a heart attack while Endara was hospitalized due to a beating by Noriega's forces.[2] International observers had reported Endara to be the clear leader in the May presidential election,[5] and during the US invasion of Panama in December, he was sworn in as president.[6]