Roberto Arias

Marriage to Fonteyn

In February 1955 while in Paris, Arias married English ballerina Margot Fonteyn, after divorcing his first wife, with whom he had three children. After his marriage, Arias was appointed as Panama's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

In 1959, he and Fonteyn were charged with attempted gun-smuggling from their yacht off the coast of Panama and he was accused of fomenting a revolt against President Ernesto de la Guardia Jr. She was immediately deported to England; Arias took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy for two months and was then given safe conduct out of the country. Eventually the charges were dropped and, after a governmental change, the couple were permitted to return to Panama. Documents released in March 2010 by the British government showed that they were both involved in the unsuccessful coup attempt.

Personal life and death

During Fonteyn's absence from Panama on tour as a ballerina, a socialite named Anabella Vallarino would move into the house as his shadow wife and move out again before Fonteyn's return. On the day of Arias' death on 22 November 1989, Vallarino committed suicide by swallowing a bottle of chlorine, and the two were buried on the same day. In addition to Fonteyn, Arias was survived by two daughters, Querube Brillembourg and Rosita Vallarino; a son, Roberto Arias; two brothers, Harmodio and Gilberto; a sister, Rosario de Galindo, and six grandchildren.

Did You Know?

• He was educated at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, and at St John's College, Cambridge, England.
• In May 1964, Arias was elected to the National Assembly, his first venture into active politics.
• Two months after his election, he was shot in an argument with a friend and former political associate, Alberto Jiménez, and spent the rest of his life as a quadriplegic.
• One of the reasons Fonteyn continued to dance so late in life was to pay Arias' enormous medical bills.