Pedro Miguel González Pinzón

Pedro Miguel González Pinzón (born January 1, 1965) is a leading political figure in Panama who was tried and acquitted by a Panamian court of the June 10, 1992, killing of a US Army serviceman, Sgt. Zak Hernández, and the serious wounding of another, Sgt. Ronald T. Marshall.

In addition to serving as a deputy in the National Assembly, where he represented the province of Veraguas for the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), he served as President of the unicameral National Assembly from September 1, 2007, elected by a vote of 50-26 (defeating his rival Wigberto Quintero of the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement), until August 31, 2008.

Early life Pedro Miguel González Pinzón was born on January 1, 1965, to Gerardo González Vernaza (1929–2006), a Panamanian politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 1997 to 1999, as well as acting as the head of the PRD party.

Alleged involvement in Hernandez murder On June 10, 1992, United States Army Sgt. Zak Hernández-LaPorte and Sgt. Ronald T. Marshall were ambushed while driving in their Humvee at an entrance to Albrook Air Base on the outskirts of Panama City. A group of gunmen fired at the pair with an AK-47 from a civilian car before making their escape. Marshall was seriously injured, while Hernández died from his wounds. The murder occurred two-and-a-half years after the US invasion of Panama to depose military ruler Manuel Noriega, and just prior to a visit by US President George H. W. Bush. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation matched an AK-47 from the attacks was found on the farm as well, while Scotland Yard and the Panamanian police did not find the AK-47 to match the bullets from the shootings.

In late 1997, González was brought to trial and acquitted. The US State Department objected to the verdict, calling it "inconsistent with persuasive testimony by credible and disinterested witnesses as well as firearm and other physical evidence". The Washington Post described the verdict as an "outrage" that showed that US soldiers must leave the country following the handover of the Panama Canal. He remained wanted by the US as of 2007.

Presidency of National Assembly After being elected twice to the National Assembly of Panama as a PRD candidate, González was selected by his party on September 1, 2007, to serve as the body's president. However, González's backers stated that the US opposition to his leadership was another chapter in a long history of US interference in Panamanian affairs, and rejected it as inappropriate. Former Panamanian President Guillermo Endara stated that he believed González to be guilty of the murder, though he opposed the trade agreement.

His election also created concern beyond Panama's borders. In the United States territory of {Puerto Rico}, where {Zak Hernández Laporte} was born, the {Puerto Rico Senate} approved Senate Resolution 3342, which expressed concern that a Panamanian indicted for Hernández-Laporte's murder had been elected to one of Panama's top leadership positions. The resolution was authored by then Senate President {Kenneth McClintock} and was approved by an overwhelming margin the same day it had been filed.

In December 2007, the National Assembly declared December 20 to be an official day of mourning for those Panamanians killed during the 1989 invasion by the United States. González supported the action, stating that "All political sectors have wanted to cast a blanket of forgetfulness ... Maybe out of shame or for other reasons, but it isn't fair to all of those Panamanians that still lie in common graves."

In January 2008, after ceremonies in Panama marking Martyr's Day (remembering students killed in a 1964 clash with U.S. soldiers over the Panama Canal), the web site of the Panamanian legislature was hacked to display an image of the US flag; the website was then down for three weeks. The Guardian described the hackers as apparently angry about González's election.

On March 7, 2008, it was announced that González would not seek reelection as head of the National Assembly when his term ended on August 31. After a long delay, US President Barack Obama resubmitted the trade pact to the US Congress, which approved it on October 13, 2011.