Panama's ex-ruler Noriega returns home after 22 years - CNN.com Panama's ex-ruler Noriega returns home after 22 years By the CNN Wire Staff Updated 5:16 AM ET, Mon December 12, 2011 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. JUST WATCHED Manuel Noriega returns to Panama 02:04 Story highlights Manuel Noriega arrives at El Renacer prison in Gamboa His attorney says the former dictator deserves fair representation Noriega was convicted in absentia for crimes committed during his rule Because of his age, he may ask to serve time under house arrest Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega arrived Sunday evening in his home country, nearly 22 years after U.S. forces forcibly removed him from office. The 77-year-old was taken straight to El Renacer prison to serve time for crimes committed during his rule. Reporters flooded the medium-security facility in Gamboa, but the former leader was shielded from public view. Officials later confirmed that he was there. Earlier, Noriega arrived at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, where security was tight.

"I think it has historic and symbolic significance," said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington D.C.-based Inter-American Dialogue, about Noriega's return. "It's a sense of closure for the Panamanian people. He clearly was a dictator for six years and presided over assassinations, disappearances and killing of opposition leaders. And so I think that it's something that was unfinished business and I think it's important for Panama to have a sense of closure," he said. Noriega's extradition process began Sunday morning with a flight from Paris to Madrid. He was in Spanish police custody during a four-hour layover before leaving Madrid Sunday afternoon on a flight to Panama City, a spokesman for Spain's airport authority said. Last month, a French court authorized his extradition to Panama, where officials want Noriega to face justice in the killings of Hugo Spadafora, his political opponent, and at least one other person. He was convicted in absentia. Speaking outside of the prison complex in Gamboa, Noriega's attorney said his client deserves fair representation. "He (Noriega) wanted to return to the country and face in this land the charges for which he was tried in absentia," attorney Julio Berrios told reporters.

"General Noriega is accused of having participated in three homicides. U.S. President George H.W. Bush invaded us and that cost 4,000 deaths. Has anybody said anything against Bush?" he said. Noriega has been in France since 2010, after two decades in an American prison. Authorities have strengthened security to guarantee his safety in Panama, according to Panamanian Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez. "We have to be ready for all the possibilities in all aspects. Noriega inspires very big emotions, and Noriega's life could very well be at risk in Panama," Henriquez said. Interior Minister Roxana Mendez said Noriega will receive the same treatment as other inmates in the Panamanian prison. "The Panamanian state has no special consideration when it comes to him serving his sentence inside the prison complex," Mendez said.

"However, based on our laws, and if there's a valid request from his attorneys, they can ask that he be transferred from the prison to house arrest if the inmate's health is in jeopardy or if the inmate, being over 70 years old, may face risks inside the prison complex." Last year, a French court sentenced Noriega to seven years in prison for laundering 2.3 million euros ($2.9 million) through banks there. He was ordered to pay the money back. Noriega denied the charges. For almost two decades, Noriega was a major player in a country of critical regional importance to the United States because of its location on the Panama Canal, the key strategic and economic waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on the narrow isthmus linking the Americas. Amid growing unrest in Panama, then-U.S. President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in December 1989, saying Noriega's rule posed a threat to U.S. lives and property. Noriega fled his offices and tried to seek sanctuary in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City. He surrendered in January 1990 and was quickly escorted to the United States for civilian trial.

Noriega was indicted in the United States on charges of racketeering, laundering drug money and drug trafficking. He was accused of having links to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's notorious Medellin cartel and, in the process, amassing a multimillion-dollar fortune. He was convicted of drug trafficking and other crimes in the United States. While in U.S. custody, he suffered from prostate cancer and a stroke. The man who once loomed large in Panama, Noriega returned home a shadow of his former self. "I don't think it's going to change in great measure the politics in Panama," said Shifter. "The country has moved on. They're interested in different things. Many young people don't even know about the Noriega era. But I think for those who do remember I think it is important," he said. Panama's Noriega in prison 25 years post-invasion Panama's Noriega in prison 25 years post-invasion JUAN ZAMORANO and KATHIA MARTINEZ Share View photos A woman cries during a ceremony in memory of the victims of the U.S. invasion at a cemetery in Panama City, Saturday, Dec.

20, 2014. The U.S. intervention known as Just Cause began 25 years ago on Saturday, on Dec. 20, 1989, and ended with Manuel Noriega’s surrender to American drug agents on Jan. 3. The invasion killed 314 Panamanian soldiers and 200 civilians, the government says, while the U.S. military reported losing 23 American soldiers. Local human rights organizations estimated that more than 1,000 Panamanians died. (AP Photo/Tito Herrera) More PANAMA CITY (AP) — Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is nearly forgotten, languishing in a steamy jungle prison near the interoceanic canal while the country enjoys democracy and economic prosperity a quarter-century after the strongman was toppled by a U.S. military invasion. The U.S. intervention known as Just Cause began 25 years ago on Saturday, on Dec. 20, 1989, and ended with Noriega's surrender to American drug agents on Jan. 3.

Much has changed in Panama since then, with six consecutive presidents democratically elected in the nation of 3.5 million people. Its economy has become one of the fastest growing in Latin America, rising at an average rate of about 8 percent annually amid a multi-million-dollar real estate and construction boom. The United States peacefully transferred full control of the canal to Panama in 1999. On Saturday, President Juan Carlos Varela became the first Panamanian leader to attend a ceremony to remember victims of the invasion. He announced the government would form a commission to consider demands put forth by their families, such as declaring the date a national day of mourning. "My presence is an effort to unify the country, heal wounds, seek justice," Varela told reporters after a memorial Mass. "Even though 25 years have passed, it is clear that mourning has not ended due to issues that remain unresolved." The invasion killed 314 Panamanian soldiers and 200 civilians, the government says, while the U.S. military reported losing 23 American soldiers. Local human rights organizations estimated that more than 1,000 Panamanians died.

Families of the victims have asked the government to support their call for a formal apology from Washington, to establish a truth commission to confirm the number of dead, and to build a monument to honor the lives lost. Noriega, now 80, is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Originally arrested on charges of working with Colombian drug traffickers, he is serving a 20-year maximum term on combined sentences for murder, embezzlement and corruption, and still faces trial for the killing of an opponent and the disappearance of two others. The former strongman's attorneys and doctors have tried without success to persuade the courts to let him serve his time at home because of his advanced age and fragile health. Doctors hired by relatives say he has a benign brain tumor and heart trouble and he has been hospitalized several times — for hypertension, flu and bronchitis — since being repatriated from France in December 2011. Noriega, a one-time CIA asset who controlled Panama from 1983 to 1989, became an embarrassment for the U.S. after he began working with Colombia's Medellin drug cartel.

In the waning days of the Cold War, Noriega was seen by U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration as an ally against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua, but eventually fell out with Washington. Shortly before Christmas 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion to oust Noriega. The dictator holed up in the Vatican Embassy, and U.S. forces blasted it with incessant loud rock music until he surrendered the following month. Taken to Miami, Noriega was convicted of helping the Medellin cartel ship tons of cocaine into the United States, and served 17 years in prison. After serving his U.S. sentence, France convicted Noriega of money laundering and he spent 1½ years there before he was sent back to Panama to serve time for charges in his homeland. Noriega is the only person over 80 serving time in a Panamanian prison, even though judges can allow an inmate aged 75 or older to serve time at home, said Ezra Angel, one of his defense attorneys. Angel says Noriega spends his time in cell reading the Bible, and is sometimes visited by local and foreign religious leaders.

In the El Chorrillo neighborhood, where U.S. forces bombed the strongman's headquarters and accidentally set fire to nearby wooden houses, residents now worry more about the area's poverty and gangs than the former dictator. "The man is now old and he's paid more than 20 years in jail," said Jose Rivas, a 61-year-old bicycle mechanic who lives in the neighborhood. "What danger does he represent now?" ___ Juan Zamorano is on Twitter at: https: //twitter.com/Juan_ZamoranoAP Reblog Panama: Fresh investigations urged after Manuel Noriega extradition | Amnesty International Panama: Fresh investigations urged after Manuel Noriega extradition 13 December 2011, 00:00 UTC Panamanian authorities must launch new investigations into Manuel Noriega’s role in a string of human rights violations dating back to the 1960s, Amnesty International said today after the former military leader was extradited from France. Upon his arrival in Panama on Sunday night, the 77-year-old former general was taken straight to a Panamanian prison, where he faces multiple jail terms for the killing of political opponents and other charges.

Amnesty International is calling for investigations to reveal the full extent of his involvement in crimes against humanity – including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.“Fresh investigations are needed into Manuel Noriega’s role in serious human rights violations both during and before his rule,” said Sebastian Elgueta, Researcher on Central America for Amnesty International.“The courts owe it to the victims to clarify the extent of his involvement in these violations that took place over several decades.”Noriega served as Panama’s de facto military leader from 1983 to December 1989, when US troops invaded Panama and deposed him.Since he was deposed, Panamanian courts have investigated, tried and convicted him in absentia for the killing of political opponents, unlawful detention, and various other abuses. Among these killings are the assassination in 1985 of former Deputy Minister for Health Dr. Hugo Spadafora and the execution of Major Moisés Giroldi Vera, the leader of a failed coup attempt in October 1989.

Other violations include the excessive use of force by security forces against public protests in 1987, deadly electoral violence in May 1989, and the October 1989 “Albrook Massacre”, in which 12 others were summarily executed for their part in the coup attempt led by Major Moisés Giroldi Vera.Amnesty International is calling for fresh investigations into those crimes, as well as into Noriega’s alleged role in crimes under international law committed before his military rule. These include the enforced disappearances of Everett Clayton Kimble and Luis Quiroz Morales in 1968 and 1969, as well as the abduction and extrajudicial execution of Heliodoro Portugal by state agents in 1970. Amnesty International believes that trials in absentia should be avoided as they are unjust, except when the accused deliberately absents him or herself after the trial has begun. “Manuel Noriega should be present to hear the full prosecution case and be able to refute facts and present a full defence. With anything less, the reliability of the verdict will always remain in doubt and justice will not be seen to be done,” said Sebastian Elgueta.

In 2010, Noriega was extradited from the USA to France where he had been sentenced in absentia in 1999 to seven years in jail. He was convicted of laundering millions of euros through French banks.Before that, Noriega served 20 years in a US prison after being convicted on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering. Topics Manuel Noriega Biography - life, family, story, death, wife, school, son, information, born, drugs, house Manuel Noriega Biography Panama City, Panama Panamanian military leader First a friend, then an enemy of the United States, Manuel Noriega, the strongman of Panama, was finally taken down by a U.S. military operation, captured, and brought to Miami for trial on drug charges in 1989. Early life Manuel Antonio Noriega was born the son of an accountant and his maid in a poor section of Panama City, Panama, in 1934. At the age of five he was given up for adoption to a schoolteacher.

He attended the National Institute, a well-regarded high school, with the intention of becoming a doctor, but his family could not afford to send him to medical school. Instead, Noriega accepted a scholarship to attend the Chorrios Military Academy in Peru. He graduated in 1962 with a degree in engineering. Returning to Panama, he became a sublieutenant in the National Guard. Military career Colonel Omar Torrijos (1929–1981) liked Noriega and obtained for him the command of Chiriqui, the country's westernmost province. In October 1968, they led a military takeover of the government of President Arnulfo Arias. Noriega's troops seized radio and telephone stations in the city of David, cutting off communications with Panama City. Torrijos emerged as the major figure in the new government. In December 1969, when Torrijos was out of the country, a trio of officers tried to seize power. Torrijos flew his plane into an airport in David that had no lights for night landing. Noriega lined up cars along the runway with their lights on to help Torrijos make it down safely.

With Noriega's troops at his service, Torrijos reclaimed the capital. From that moment, Noriega's career blossomed. He became involved with U.S. intelligence activities. In 1971 he went to Havana, Cuba, at the request of U.S. president Richard Nixon (1911–1994) to obtain the release of crewmen of two American ships seized by Fidel Castro's (1927–) government. At this time Noriega was already involved in drug deals. A high-ranking drug enforcement officer recommended that President Nixon order Noriega's assassination, but Nixon did not follow through. As head of G-2, Panama's military intelligence command, Noriega was the second most powerful man in Panama. In 1975 G-2 agents rounded up businessmen who criticized Torrijos, took away their property, and sent Manuel Noriega. them into exile in Ecuador. Torrijos once said of Noriega, "This is my gangster." Increase in power Torrijos died in 1981 in an unexplained plane crash.

In the following two-year contest for power between politicians and military officers, Noriega emerged as the winner. In late 1983, following his promotion to general and commander of the National Guard, the guard was combined with the navy and air force into the Panama Defense Forces (which also included the national police). The following year Noriega's choice for president, Nicolás Ardito Barletta, won a narrow victory over Arnulfo Arias. But Barletta failed to improve the country's weak economy (system of production, distribution, and use of goods and services), and Noriega forced him out. Noriega at this time began to be suspected of gun trafficking (smuggling), money laundering, torture, murder, and selling U.S. information and technology to Cuba and Eastern European governments. Noriega denied wrongdoing and said U.S. politicians were looking for a way to undo the Panama Canal treaties before the canal became Panamanian property on December 31, 1999.

In June 1987 Noriega's former chief of staff, Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera, stated that Noriega had fixed the 1984 election and ordered the killing of Hugo Spadafora, who had publicly accused Noriega of drug trafficking. Herrera also said Noriega had been involved in Torrijos's death. Panamanians organized protests demanding the removal of Noriega. He responded by declaring a national emergency. He suspended constitutional rights, closed newspapers and radio stations, and drove his political enemies into exile. Herrera was captured and ordered to recant (take back) his statements. Church leaders, businessmen, and students organized into the National Civil Crusade, dressed in white, and went into the streets banging pots and pans. The riot squads drove them away. United States steps in By now Americans were outraged, and in June 1987 the U.S. Senate called for Noriega's removal. The administration of President Ronald Reagan (1911–) began looking for a way to bring Noriega down. The U.S.

economic and military assistance ended, Panamanian bankers began withdrawing their support, and Noriega quickly lost favor everywhere except for the Panama Defense Forces (PDF). Secret talks were held between U.S. officials and Noriega's representatives calling for him to resign and leave the country before the 1988 U.S. presidential election, saving George Bush (1924–), who as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had dealt with Noriega, from embarrassment. The Justice Department filed charges against Noriega in federal court in early 1988 as a warning. Assistant Secretary of State Eliot Abrams went to Panama to get President Eric Del Valle to fire Noriega. Instead, Noriega forced out Del Valle and named a new president. After taking over as president, Bush increased the pressure. In May 1989 Noriega decided not to run in the election but backed another candidate, Carlos Duque. The opposition Panameñista Party nominated Guillermo Endara, who was immediately provided with $10 million by the Bush administration.

Even though the election was being watched by former President Jimmy Carter (1924–) and other foreign officials, as soon as Noriega realized that Duque was losing, he ordered the PDF to seize ballot boxes. When the opposition took to the streets in protest, Noriega's squads beat them. Endara and a vice presidential candidate, Guillermo Ford, lost the election. Last straw Noriega declared the election void (having no legal force or effect), installed another president, and, in October 1989, survived a takeover attempt supported by U.S. forces. To improve the nation's international image and to prevent Noriega from naming one of his people as administrator of the Panama Canal, Bush took stronger action. Using as an excuse the firing on U.S. soldiers passing the PDF headquarters and Noriega's statement that U.S. actions had created a state of war, the United States launched a full-scale attack (Operation Just Cause) with twenty-four thousand troops on December 20, 1989. Fighting continued for four days, with the United States losing hundreds of troops and the Panamanians losing thousands.

Noriega escaped capture for a few days but was found hiding in the Papal Nunciature, a religious office. Under pressure from Vatican officials, Noriega surrendered to the Vatican Embassy in Panama City on January 3, 1990. In a deal worked out with the U.S.-created government headed by Guillermo Endara, U.S. authorities brought Noriega to Miami for trial, which was delayed into the early 1990s. He was convicted of several crimes including cocaine smuggling. He was sentenced to forty years in a Miami prison and ordered to pay $44 million to the Panamanian government. In 1999 a French court sentenced Noriega and his wife to ten years in jail along with a $33 million fine. Also in 1999 the Panamanian high court announced that it would seek to have Noriega returned to that country to make sure he served time there for murder. In 2002 a parole hearing took place in Miami, which resulted in Noriega's denial for early release from his U.S. prison sentence. He would remain in prison in the United States for at least five more years.

For More Information Dinges, John. Our Man in Panama: How General Noriega Used the United States and Made Millions in Drugs and Arms. New York: Random House, 1990. Harris, David. Shooting the Moon: The True Story of an American Manhunt Unlike Any Other, Ever. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Kempe, Frederick. Divorcing the Dictator: America's Bungled Affair with Noriega. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1990. Noriega, Manuel, and Peter Eisner. America's Prisoner: The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega. New York: Random House, 1997. User Contributions: Panama's Noriega Challenges France Extradition Panama's Noriega Challenges France Extradition October 27, 2009 6:40 PM Share Email to a Friend Print Lawyers for former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega have asked a U.S. judge to block his possible extradition to France to face money-laundering charges.

In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports that Noreiga is seeking to return to Panama when he is paroled from a U.S. prison in September. The legal troubles of Panama's former military leader Manuel Noriega are likely to continue when he is released from a U.S. prison on September 9, after serving 17 years of a drug sentence. The governments in both France and Panama are seeking the custody of Noriega to answer for crimes he allegedly committed while he was in power. Noriega was convicted in 1992 in the United States for protecting Colombian drug cartels shipping drugs to the United States, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was convicted in France in 1999 for laundering millions of dollars in alleged drug money. He faces a 10-year jail term there. In Panama, Noriega is accused of taking part in the killings of at least two political opponents. Noriega's attorneys filed motions in a Miami court Monday asking that he be returned to Panama to fight the charges against him. Attorney John May says U.S.

courts for years have classified Noriega as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions, because he surrendered during a U.S. military invasion launched in 1989. "The French request would contravene the terms of the Geneva Conventions which require that General Noriega be repatriated to Panama," he said. U.S. attorneys representing the French government filed the extradition request in Miami. Last week, a U.S. State Department spokesman said the decision will belong to a Miami judge whether to order Noriega's extradition to France or to Panama. The judge is expected to hold an initial hearing on Thursday. Guy Lewis, a former U.S. attorney who helped prosecute Noriega, says he feels the French request will prevail because it has satisfied U.S. legal requirements. "He was tried [in France], he was convicted, and now it is time to pay the piper. I think he will have to go to France, serve his sentence, and eventually I think he will make his way back to Panama," he said. Noriega's attorneys say they believe that officials want to send the former leader to France, in an effort to spare Panama's President Martin Torrijos from any political embarrassment.

Panama's government says it has filed several extradition requests in Washington, and says it wants to hold Noriega responsible for alleged crimes during his years in power. Former prosecutor Lewis says officials at the time of Noriega's 1992 conviction made no provisions for possible future cases against him. He added he is not surprised by the current battle over custody of the former military leader. "This of course was the first time that a foreign leader had been indicted, arrested, brought to the United States, prosecuted and convicted. For better or worse, this is the kind of case that seems to make [legal precedent] on a regular basis," he said. Lewis says the Noriega case has been a key test of the U.S. justice system over the years, and he says he expects it will continue to do so in coming weeks. Noriega flown home for new punishment – USATODAY.com By Angel Murillo, AFP/Getty Images A 1988 file photo shows General Manuel Noriega speaking in Panama City.

Sponsored Links Noriega left Orly airport, south of Paris, on a flight of Spain's Iberia airlines, delivered directly to the aircraft by a four-car convoy and motorcycles that escorted him from the French capital's walked La Sante prison. The flight, which stops in Madrid, left at 8:08 a.m., about a half-hour behind schedule. The French Justice Ministry, in a one-line statement, said France turned Noriega over to Panamanian officials on Sunday in accordance with extradition proceedings. It was the only official remark. Noriega's return comes after more than 20 years in U.S. and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering. Panama convicted him during his captivity overseas for the slayings of two political opponents in the 1980s. He was sentenced to 20 years in each case, and Panamanian officials say he will be sent straight to a jail cell when he lands. The ex-general, whose pockmarked face earned him the nickname "Pineapple Face," could eventually leave prison under a law allowing prisoners over 70 to serve out their time under house arrest.

A doctor was reported to be among the team of Panamanian officials escorting the 77-year-old ex-dictator back to Panama. "He was very impatient, very happy. He's going home," one of his French lawyers, Antonin Levy, said by telephone Saturday night, a day after his last visit with Noriega. But many Panamanians still want to see the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents bloody in the streets to pay his debt at home. "Noriega was responsible for the invasion and those who died in the operation. He dishonored his uniform, there was barely a shot and he went off to hide. He must pay," said Hatuey Castro, 82, a member of the anti-Noriega opposition who was detained and beaten by the strongman's thugs in 1989. Though other U.S. conflicts have long since pushed him from the spotlight, the 1989 invasion that ousted Noriega was one of the most bitterly debated events of the Cold War's waning years. Noriega began working with U.S.

intelligence when he was a student at a military academy in Peru, said Everett Ellis Briggs, the United States ambassador to Panama from 1982 to 1986. As he rose in the Panamanian military during the 1970s and 1980s, Noriega cooperated closely with the CIA , helping the U.S. combat leftist movements in Latin America by providing information and logistical help. He also acted as a back channel for U.S. communications with unfriendly governments such as Cuba's. But Noriega was playing a double game. He also began working with Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, and made millions moving cocaine to the United States. "He was for rent to a lot of people," Briggs said. The U.S. avoided taking action because of concerns about the security of the Panama Canal and overall stability in Central America , he added. "There was just a feeling that now is not the time to take the lid off this particular mess," Briggs said. As the Cold War waned, and the U.S. war on drugs gained prominence, Noriega's drug ties became a source of increasing tension. After a U.S.

grand jury indicted him on drug charges in 1988, tensions escalated between his forces and U.S. troops stationed around the Panama Canal. A U.S. Marine was killed in one clash. President George H.W. Bush also accused Noriega's men of abusing a U.S. Navy serviceman and his wife. On Dec. 20, 1989, more than 26,000 U.S. troops began moving into Panama City , clashing with Noriega loyalists in fighting that left sections of the city devastated. Twenty-three U.S. troops, 314 Panamanian soldiers, and some 200 civilians died in the operation. Noriega hid in bombed and burned-out neighborhoods before he sought refuge in the Vatican Embassy, which was besieged by U.S. troops playing loud rock music. He gave up on Jan. 3, 1990, and was flown to Miami for trial on drug-related charges. Bush was praised for a precise and limited strike, and pundits said the president, with soaring approval ratings, had shed the wimpy image that had plagued him during the 1988 presidential campaign.

Noriega's return to the U.S. as a prisoner of war was "a triumph for diplomacy and a triumph for justice," said the late Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, normally a harsh critic of Bush. Critics, however, saw a dangerous precedent in Bush's willingness to send troops into harm's way to topple a foreign leader, particularly one who had been supported for years by the U.S. The United Nations General Assembly called the invasion "a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states." Noriega was convicted two years after the invasion, and served 17 years at a minimum-security prison outside Miami, where he received special treatment as a prisoner of war and lived in his own bungalow with a TV and exercise equipment. When his sentence ended, he was extradited to France, which convicted him for laundering millions of dollars in drug profits through three major French banks, and investing drug cash in three luxury Paris apartments. Noriega suffers from high blood pressure and partial paralysis as the result of a stroke several years ago, according to his lawyers in France.

He returns to a nation that has seen a sustained economic boom, fueled largely by the return of the Panama Canal and surrounding land and military bases to Panamanian control in 2000. Dozens of new skyscrapers have risen around the war-scarred capital, and tourism is flourishing. The ex-dictator's return "should finally close a chapter of history that we do not ever want to happen again," said former Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis, whose family was forced out of the country in retaliation for opposing Noriega. "Hopefully, we can put this sad chapter of history in the past and focus on the future," Lewis said. Panama remains a base for international drug trafficking and money laundering, however, and it also suffers from street crime and income inequality. In many parts of society, there is nostalgia for the Noriega years. Julio Rangel, a 63-year-old painter who sells his works in a park in the capital, said Noriega "doesn't represent any sort of danger to the people here" and never deserved to become the target of a U.S. invasion. "What the North Americans wanted to do was destroy our defense forces," he said.

Omar Rodriguez, who was selling soft drinks nearby, said that in Noriega's time, "there was more work, and there wasn't criminality like today." "I can't speak ill of him," Rodriguez said. Noriega faces immediate punishment for the murders of military commander Moises Giroldi, slain after leading a failed rebellion on Oct. 3, 1989, and Hugo Spadafora, a political opponent found decapitated on the border with Costa Rica in 1985. He also could be tried in the deaths of other opponents during the same period. "He's coming to serve his sentences, and that's important for the families of the victims," said former Panamanian Attorney General Rogelio Cruz. "His presence here is important because he'll satisfy the demands of justice for his criminal convictions and the trials that he still has to face." Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions , visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com .

Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com . Posted | Updated USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines . Top viewed stories, photo galleries and community posts of the day Most popular right now: Panama's Ex-Dictator Manuel Noriega Extradited from U.S. to France - ABC News Email Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega , who was ousted by a U.S. invasion in 1989 and jailed in the United States, arrived in France today to face money laundering charges after being extradited from the U.S. Tuesday night. Escorted by French prison officials, the 76-year-old former general arrived on an Air France flight from Miami early this morning at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris. This afternoon a judge ordered that he be jailed pending trial, which could take place within two months.

"We did not see anybody in particular leave our aircraft," a passenger on the flight told reporters at the Paris airport. "But we saw a lot of policemen around the plane" she said. Play April 18, 1978: Panama Canal Treaty Before he boarded the Air France flight at Miami airport, local television showed helicopter pictures of a physically weak Noriega being helped out of a black pickup, walking with difficulty. Noriega suffered a mild stroke four years ago. This morning, Noriega appeared behind closed doors at Paris' main courthouse , where French prosecutors read him an arrest warrant, the first step before any other judicial action can be taken against him in France. French authorities say Noriega laundered $7 million in drug proceeds from the Medellin Cartel in Colombia by purchasing luxury apartments in Paris. Play April 18, 1978: Panama Canal Treaty In 1999, while he was in prison in the U.S., Noriega was convicted in absentia by a French court. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined close to $15 million. But France agreed to give him a new trail if he was extradited.

Manuel Noriega, Panama's strongman in the 1980s and a one-time CIA informant during the Cold War, was ousted as Panama's leader by U.S. troops in December 1989. Noriega was captured and brought to Miami where he was later sentenced to 40 years in jail for drug trafficking and related charges. His sentence was later reduced for good behavior and after spending 17 years behind bars, Noriega was expected to regain freedom in 2007. But he remained in jail pending the extradition request made by French prosecutors. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a so-called surrender warrant for Noriega after a federal judge in Miami lifted a stay blocking the extradition last month. Manuel Noriega, Panama's Former Dictator, Extradited from U.S. to France Noriega's French lawyers are seeking his immediate release, saying his detention and transfer are unlawful. "If the rules of law are applied, there should not be a trial in France," Yves Leberquier, one of Noriega's French lawyers, told RTL radio today.

The French lawyers argue that it is illegal to try a former head of state who should have immunity from prosecution. Noriega's lawyers also say the charges against him are too old to be tried under French law. And they say Noriega is considered a prisoner of war, a status French jails aren't ready to accommodate. Noriega was declared a P.O.W. after his 1992 drug conviction by a Miami federal judge. In Miami, Noriega had separate quarters in prison, the right to wear his military uniform and insignia, access to a television and monitoring by international rights groups. Panama also has an outstanding request for the former dictator's extradition. He was convicted in Panama in absentia and sentenced to 54 years in prison on charges of embezzlement, corruption and ordering the murder of opponents. In 1987, Noriega was made a commander in France's prestigious Legion of Honor . The Associated Press contributed to this report.

0 Shares Ex-Panamanian dictator Noriega sues over video game portrayal (+video) - CSMonitor.com Ex-Panamanian dictator Noriega sues over video game portrayal (+video) Latest News North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smiles as he gives field guidance at the Chonapho Fishery Institute in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang July 17, 2014. KCNA/Reuters View Caption of Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is joining the league of world leaders and governments upset over their portrayals in movies and video games: He's suing the company behind the game “ Call of Duty: Black Ops II.” Mr. Noriega is suing Activision Blizzard Inc. for using his name and depiction without permission. The Los Angeles Times reported that the lawsuit filed on Tuesday alleges he is portrayed as “a kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state,” adding to “heightened sales” for Activision. The lawsuit seeks damages and lost profits. Noriega held power from 1983 to 1989, before a US invasion removed him.

He was imprisoned in the US on drug smuggling and racketeering charges and only returned to Panama in 2011. Recommended: How much do you know about pop culture? Take our quiz to find out! Lampooning dictators and particularly colorful world leaders is regular fare for movies and video games. North Korea 's Kim Jong-un declared “all-out war” against the US in June over the upcoming James Franco and Seth Rogen film, "The Interview." In the film, Mr. Kim is the target of a CIA assassination attempt. Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 01/17 Kim’s ire over the film didn’t stop with the threat. North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations , Ja Song-nam, wrote a letter of protest to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon without mentioning the name of the movie: “To allow the production and distribution of such a film on the assassination of an incumbent head of a sovereign state should be regarded as the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism as well as an act of war.” The ruling family of the Hermit Kingdom has engendered its fair share of controversial portrayals.

Kim's father, Kim Jong-il , was depicted as a wooden puppet in the 2004 film Team America: World Police , allegedly upsetting the leader, although he never commented on it. North Korean embassy officials in the Czech Republic tried unsuccessfully to block the film there. Moving west to Malaysia , the 2001 comedy Zoolander featured a plotline to assassinate the prime minister. That was too much for the Malaysian government, which called it “definitely unsuitable.” (Zoolander star Owen Wilson actually met the real prime minister of Malaysia Najib Razak in 2012.) Middle Eastern leaders haven’t been spared, either. Saddam Hussein was depicted in the 1993 " Hot Shots! Part Deux " film, playing a large role in the movie with memorable lines including, "Now I will kill you until you die from it!" The film wasn’t banned in Iraq . It was an event in Ukraine in 2004 that spawned a popular online game. Then-presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych was pelted by an egg, and his reaction made it appear that he had been shot. The video quickly went viral and was followed by the game.

So Noreiga can rest assured that he has company, and more surely to join soon. Next up Get the Monitor stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Daily Manuel Noriega 'excited' to be back in Panama after two decades behind bars abroad | Daily Mail Online comments Manuel Noriega, Panama's drug-running military dictator of the 1980s, was extradited back to his home country last night. The 77-year-old told sources he was 'excited' about his return - which saw him taken straight to prison to serve a 20-year sentence for the murders of opponents during his rule. Accompanied by Panama's attorney general and a doctor, he was extradited from Orly airport, south of the French capital of Paris, to Panama on a commercial flight of Spanish airline Iberia. He was then flown in a helicopter to the outskirts of a jungle-surrounded prison beside the Panama Canal. Scroll down for video...

Arrival: Panama's former dictator Manuel Noriega seen next to police officers upon his arrival at Renacer prison, outside Panama City Angry: Noriega raised his hand at photographers taking his picture as he was transported into the prison Defiant: Wheelchair bound former dictator Manuel Noriega gestured at photographer after arriving at Renacer prison on Sunday night The former strongman arrived at the prison in a police convoy and was whisked into the building in a wheelchair. About half an hour earlier, another convoy had arrived with a wheelchair-bound passenger in an apparent decoy manoeuvre. 'We had to be sure of his security,' Interior Minister Roxana Mendez told reporters outside the prison. The doctor who accompanied Noriega on the plane said he was suffering from hypertension and could not walk unassisted. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Noriega did not speak to waiting media, but photographs showed him at the prison reception area, in a wheelchair and wearing a red shirt. A physically diminished shadow of the man once known for waving a machete while delivering fiery speeches, Noriega's return is unlikely to have a major political impact on a country that has enjoyed an economic boom in recent years.

Helping hand: Noriega was helped out of a car after arriving at the Renacer prison Arrival: Noriega touched down into his home country on this Iberia flight Widely reviled when he was Panama's de facto leader from 1983 until 1989, his small cadre of remaining supporters has kept a low profile and even bitter opponents dismiss Noriega as part of a distant, shadowy past. He was toppled in a U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 and has spent the last two decades behind bars, first in Florida and then in France after being convicted for drug trafficking and money laundering. The French Justice Ministry, in a one-line statement, said France turned Noriega over to Panamanian officials on Sunday in accordance with extradition proceedings. It was the only official remark. Noriega's return comes after more than 20 years in U.S. and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering. Panama convicted him during his captivity overseas for the murder of two political opponents in the 1980s. He was sentenced to 20 years in each case.

The ex-general, whose pockmarked face earned him the nickname 'Pineapple Face,' could eventually leave prison under a law allowing prisoners over 70 to serve out their time under house arrest. Boarding pass: The convoy carrying ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, was under tight security as French authorities put him on a plane back to Panama 'He was very impatient, very happy. He's going home,' one of his French lawyers, Antonin Levy, said by telephone on Saturday night, a day after his last visit with Noriega. But many Panamanians still want to see the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents in the streets to pay his debt at home. 'Noriega was responsible for the invasion and those who died in the operation. 'He dishonoured his uniform, there was barely a shot and he went off to hide. He must pay,' said Hatuey Castro, 82, a member of the anti-Noriega opposition who was detained and beaten by the strongman's thugs in 1989. Though other U.S.

conflicts have long since pushed him from the spotlight, the 1989 invasion that ousted Noriega was one of the most bitterly debated events of the Cold War's waning years. Noriega began working with U.S. intelligence when he was a student at a military academy in Peru, said Everett Ellis Briggs, the U.S. ambassador to Panama from 1982 to 1986. Security: A police car, right, believed to be carrying former Panamanian military strongman Manuel Noriega arrives at Orly airport, south of Paris, after leaving France's La Sante Prison As he rose in the Panamanian military during the 1970s and 1980s, Noriega cooperated closely with the CIA, helping the U.S. combat leftist movements in Latin America by providing information and logistical help. He also acted as a back channel for U.S. communications with unfriendly governments such as Cuba's. But Noriega was playing a double game. He also began working with Colombia's Medellin drug cartel, and made millions moving cocaine to the United States. 'He was for rent to a lot of people,' Briggs said.

He added that the U.S. avoided taking action because of concerns about the security of the Panama Canal and overall stability in Central America. 'There was just a feeling that now is not the time to take the lid off this particular mess,' Briggs said. From dictator to prisoner: Noriega was a major figure in the Panamanian military in the 70s and 80s, but his connection to the Colombian drug trade led to his indictment by a U.S. grand jury in 1988 As the Cold War waned, and the U.S. war on drugs gained prominence, Noriega's drug ties became a source of increasing tension. After a U.S. grand jury indicted him on drug charges in 1988, tensions escalated between his forces and U.S. troops stationed around the Panama Canal. A U.S. Marine was killed in one clash. President George H.W. Bush also accused Noriega's men of abusing a U.S. Navy serviceman and his wife. On Dec. 20, 1989, more than 26,000 U.S.

troops began moving into Panama City, clashing with Noriega loyalists in fighting that left sections of the city devastated. Twenty-three U.S. troops, 314 Panamanian soldiers, and some 200 civilians died in the operation. Noriega hid in bombed and burned-out neighbourhoods before he sought refuge in the Vatican Embassy, which was besieged by U.S. troops playing loud rock music. Panama's anger: Noriega's extradition back to Panama is welcomed news for many of the families who lost loved ones due to his regime He gave up on Jan. 3, 1990, and was flown to Miami for trial on drug-related charges. Bush was praised for a precise and limited strike, and pundits said the president, with soaring approval ratings, had shed the wimpy image that had plagued him during the 1988 presidential campaign. Noriega's return to the U.S. as a prisoner of war was 'a triumph for diplomacy and a triumph for justice,' said the late Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, normally a harsh critic of Bush.

Critics, however, saw a dangerous precedent in Bush's willingness to send troops into harm's way to topple a foreign leader, particularly one who had been supported for years by the U.S. The United Nations General Assembly called the invasion 'a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.' Noriega was convicted two years after the invasion, and served 17 years at a minimum-security prison outside Miami, where he received special treatment as a prisoner of war and lived in his own bungalow with a TV and exercise equipment. Noriega's new home: Officers stand guard at Panama's Renacer prison, where Manuel Noriega will serve two 20 year sentences for the murder of two political opponents When his sentence ended, he was extradited to France, which convicted him for laundering millions of dollars in drug profits through three major French banks, and investing drug cash in three luxury Paris apartments. Noriega suffers from high blood pressure and partial paralysis as the result of a stroke several years ago, according to his lawyers in France.

He returns to a nation that has seen a sustained economic boom, fueled largely by the return of the Panama Canal and surrounding land and military bases to Panamanian control in 2000. Dozens of new skyscrapers have risen around the war-scarred capital, and tourism is flourishing. The ex-dictator's return 'should finally close a chapter of history that we do not ever want to happen again,' said former Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis, whose family was forced out of the country in retaliation for opposing Noriega. 'Hopefully, we can put this sad chapter of history in the past and focus on the future,' Lewis said. Panama remains a base for international drug trafficking and money laundering, however, and it also suffers from street crime and income inequality. What awaits: A picture released by Panama's Government Ministry shows a cell at El Renacer penitentiary that's reserved for Noriega Growth: Panama has seen a sustained economic boom, fueled largely by the return of the Panama Canal and surrounding land and military bases to Panamanian control in 2000 In many parts of society, there is nostalgia for the Noriega years.

Julio Rangel, a 63-year-old painter who sells his works in a park in the capital, said Noriega 'doesn't represent any sort of danger to the people here' and never deserved to become the target of a U.S. invasion. 'What the North Americans wanted to do was destroy our defense forces,' he said. Omar Rodriguez, who was selling soft drinks nearby, said that in Noriega's time, 'there was more work, and there wasn't criminality like today.' 'I can't speak ill of him,' Rodriguez said. Noriega faces immediate punishment for the murders of military commander Moises Giroldi, slain after leading a failed rebellion on October 3, 1989, and Hugo Spadafora, a political opponent found decapitated on the border with Costa Rica in 1985. He also could be tried in the deaths of other opponents during the same period. 'He's coming to serve his sentences, and that's important for the families of the victims,' said former Panamanian Attorney General Rogelio Cruz.

'His presence here is important because he'll satisfy the demands of justice for his criminal convictions and the trials that he still has to face.'

Question: What offence was former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega tried for in the USA?
Answer: Drug Trafficking