Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, but instead held titles including "Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution" and "Supreme Chief of Government." Although he was considered a leftist dictator, he simultaneously had the support of the United States as he opposed communism. His politics were based instead on progressivism.

Torrijos is best known for negotiating the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties that eventually gave Panama full sovereignty over the Panama Canal, at noon on December 31, 1999. His son Martín Torrijos was elected president and served from 2004 to 2009.

Torrijos was born in Santiago in the province of Veraguas, the sixth of twelve children. His father, José Maria Torrijos, was originally from Colombia, and was employed as a teacher. He was educated at the local Juan Demóstenes Arosemena School and won a scholarship to the military academy in San Salvador. He graduated with a commission as a second lieutenant. He joined the Panamanian army, the National Guard (Guardia Nacional), in 1952. He was promoted to captain in 1956 and took a cadet course at the School of the Americas in 1965.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. On the international stage, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and 2006 to 2008.

Fernando Pacheco (a.k.a. Fernando The Love Machine), current lead singer and trombonist for the ska/rock/reggae band Pimpbot, and improv/sketch comic artist with Chocolate Squirrel, is a native of Hawaii. The band's founding member, he has toured the Western U.S. and Canada with Pimpbot and appeared on each of their full length albums, in addition to several singles, since their formation in 2001. An avid musician, he also plays drums with a jazz group known as "The Bender Trio", bass in a surf band "Dr. Zaius," and is the former trombonist of the world renowned ska band Go Jimmy Go. He has played trombone as a guest artist with another Hawaiian ska band, Black Square. Additionally, he is known by his alter ego, Max Murdoch, from the band "Max Murdoch and The Northern Soul Project". In 2008 and 2009, Pacheco ventured into improvisational comedy and sketch comedy studying under Shannon Winpenny and Garrick Paikai in Honolulu. In total, he has appeared on 8 albums, 16 national, and 3 international tours.

Nicolás Maduro Moros (born 23 November 1962 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan politician who was appointed foreign minister by President Hugo Chávez on 9 August 2006.

Nicolas Maduro began his political career as a bus driver and unofficial trade-unionist representing the workers of the Caracas Metro system in the 1970s and 1980s (back then, unions within the Metro company were not allowed). He finished high school in the Liceo Avalos, a public high-school west of Caracas during the '80 (El Valle neighborhood), but lacks any university or further education. He is considered one of the founders of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), but his biggest political accomplishment was as activist for the release of Hugo Chávez from prison, and later as one of this regional political coordinators during the 1998 presidential race. Maduro was elected on the MVR ticket to the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies in 1998, to the National Constituent Assembly in 1999, and to the National Assembly in 2000 and 2005, representing the Capital District. The legislature elected him Speaker of the Assembly, even though he did not have a college degree or formal education. He held that position from 2005 until the first half of 2006. Maduro is married to Cilia Flores, herself a prominent figure within the MVR. She replaced Maduro as Speaker of assembly.

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981) and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. Before he became President, Carter served as a U.S. Naval officer, was a peanut farmer, served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as Governor of Georgia (1971–1975).

During Carter's term as President, two new cabinet-level departments were created: the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and returned the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. Throughout his career, Carter strongly emphasized human rights. He took office during a period of international stagflation, which persisted throughout his term. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (at the end of 1979), 1980 Summer Olympics boycott by the United States of the Moscow Olympics and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.