Petita Ayarza Pérez

Petita Ayarza Pérez (born January 10, 1965) is a Panamanian Indigenous political leader and businesswoman. In the 2019 general election, she became the first Guna woman to run for a seat as deputy and be elected to the National Assembly of Panama.

Biography Petita Ayarza was born in Rio Sidra in 1965. She was named after former first lady Petita Saa de Robles, the wife of President Marco Aurelio Robles.

She holds a licentiate in human resources and an ecological tourism technician degree, the latter from the University of Panama. She has worked as a businesswoman in the tourism sector in the Guna Yala region, and is the leader of a tourism association for 28 islands. She won a seat in the 2019 general election, receiving 38.77% of the votes, according to Electoral Court data.