Panama Invasion by United States in 1989: Background and chronology Copyright 2001 by Jane Franklin In November 1989, three weeks before the U.S. invasion, I attended a conference in Panama hosted by Panama's Center for International Studies to inform 118 U.S. delegates about what was taking place. Panamanians were already under constant attack by U.S. troops who staged almost-daily military exercises in Panamanian territory where U.S. forces were obligated by treaty not to operate. The Panamanians at the conference, including Provisional President Francisco Rodrï¿½guez and General Manuel Noriega, made it clear that the issue was not Noriega or democracy or the safety of U.S. citizens. The issue was sovereignty--Panama’s right to determine its own history. Most people in the United States have little knowledge of Panama’s history. This chronology, an enlargement of one that I wrote in 1990, is an attempt to provide an historical context for the invasion. 1501: Spanish exploration of the isthmus begins. The conquistadores introduce slavery and Catholicism. 1519: Old Panama City founded.

Sacked by British buccaneer Henry Morgan 1671. 1751: Part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Granada, including at that time the present republics of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. 1821: Independence from Spain during the battles for independence being waged with the leadership of Simï¿½n Bolï¿½var. Soon becomes part of Bolï¿½var’s Greater Colombia union of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. (Within this union present-day Colombia was known as New Granada and included Panama.) Bolï¿½var is elected president of Greater Colombia. 1823: On December 2, in what becomes known as the Monroe Doctrine, President James Monroe stakes out the Western Hemisphere as an exclusive U.S. sphere of influence. 1830: When Bolï¿½var’s union dissolves, Panama continues to be part of New Granada (which takes the name Colombia in 1863). 1846: U.S. government concludes treaty with New Granada stating Washington would guarantee "perfect neutrality" of the isthmus.

1855: The Panama Railroad across the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific is finished on January 28. 1856: U.S. troops land in Panama September 19-22 to protect U.S. interests, particularly the railroad. 1865: U.S. troops land March 9-10 to protect lives and property of U.S. citizens and of course the railroad during revolutionary activity. 1873: U.S. troops land at Bay of Panama, Colombia, May 7-22 and September 23-October 9 to protect U.S. interests during hostilities over who should govern Panama. 1885: U.S. troops land at Colï¿½n January 18-19 to guard valuables on the Panama Railroad and to protect the safes and vaults of the Panama Railroad Company. In March, April and May U.S. troops are in Panama at both ends of the railroad, Colï¿½n and Panama City, to protect the railroad during revolutionary activity. 1898: U.S.

victory against Spain in the Spanish-American War yields four territories with major ports for the U.S. Navy: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Guam. 1901: U.S. troops land in Panama November 20-December 4 to protect U.S. property and to keep the railroad open. Washington decides definitely to build the Panama Canal. 1902: U.S. troops land September 17-November 18 to keep the railroad open. PERMANENT PRESENCE OF U.S. TROOPS 1903: In November, the Theodore Roosevelt Administration engineers the separation of Panama from Colombia.. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla treaty is then negotiated for the building of a canal. U.S. troops become a permanent presence. 1904: Extra U.S. troops to prevent insurrection during elections. Meanwhile, U.S. policy undermines and weakens the national army. No Panamanian can become president without the approval of Washington. 1908: Extra U.S. troops to prevent insurrection during elections. 1912: Extra U.S. troops to prevent insurrection during elections.

In May, Washington appoints a commission of high-ranking U.S. Army officers to count the votes in June elections. 1914: Panama Canal opens. U.S. troops control a ten-mile-wide Canal Zone across the middle of the country. In order to cross from one side of their country to the other, Panamanians must identify themselves to U.S. troops. In the Zone, U.S. employees receive more than twice the wage that Panamanians receive. At this time an oligarchy rules with land and money for the few while 90 percent are excluded. Segregation is enforced by a system of laws like the Jim Crow laws in the United States. 1918-20: Extra U.S. troops to provide police duty at Chiriquï¿½ (western Panama) during election disturbances and subsequent unrest. In 1918, President Ciro Urriola issues a decree that postpones elections. Washington orders the decree revoked and U.S. troops occupy Panama City and Colï¿½n. 1920: Major labor strike directed by William Preston Stoute, who is banished from the country. 1925: Extra U.S.

troops on October 12-23 to keep order and protect U.S. interests during rent strikes by tenants. 1930s-40s: Washington is occasionally forced to make deals. For instance, in exchange for more U.S. military sites outside the Canal Zone on the eve of entering World War II, the U.S. Government cancels some debt, gives monetary compensation for the sites, transfers to Panama certain properties of the Panama Railroad Company and control over the water and sewer systems of Panama City and Colï¿½n, grants some jurisdictional control to Panama. 1947: On December 10, Panamanian Foreign Minister Francisco A. Filos and U.S. Ambassador Frank Hines sign the Filos-Hines Treaty to extend the presence of the 140 U.S. military bases and defense sites used during World War II. Successful Panamanian resistance leads to the treaty’s defeat in the National Assembly two weeks later. 1954: The CIA overthrows Guatemala’s government, ousting the elected president, Jacobo Arbenz, and installing the military dictatorship of Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. 1954: U.S.

Supreme Court passes school desegregation decision (Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka). Developing U.S. Civil Rights Movement has profound influence in Panama. 1955: Washington agrees to pay more for Canal expenses, to let Panama collect taxes from employees excepting U.S. citizens and some others, and to restore a little property to Panama. 1958: Campaign demanding equal status for the Spanish language and the Panamanian flag in the Canal Zone. The Eisenhower Administration agrees both flags can fly at a specified place. 1959: On January 1, Cuban Revolution triumphs, profoundly influencing the Panamanian people. Disturbances occur in each of the first four months of this year. 1959: On Independence Day Panamanians march into the Canal Zone to raise the Panamanian flag; U.S. troops turn them back. Washington begins to convert police force into full-fledged military. Washington later fears this military because of its potential as a nationalist force. 1964: On January 9, U.S. students raise the U.S. flag by itself at a high school in the Canal Zone.

Protesting Panamanians march into the Zone and are turned back by U.S. troops. This leads to two days of demonstrations during which U.S. troops kill more than 20 civilians and wound more than 300. Panama breaks diplomatic relations and demands revision of treaties. Relations resume in April after Washington agrees to discuss treaties. OVERTHROW OF THE OLIGARCHY 1968: On October 11, the National Guard, under Col. Omar Torrijos, overthrows the government of the oligarchy and installs a junta from which Torrijos emerges the leader. He heads the armed forces 1968-81. Torrijos moves toward independence from Washington, relying on the nationalist base. Torrijos is not part of the oligarchy; his base comes from the dispossessed. Under his leadership, the Panamanian Defense Forces become part of the movement for national liberation.

During the government of Torrijos and the National Guard, public schools increase from fewer than 2,000 to more than 3,000; infant mortality decreases from 40 to 25 per 1,000 live births; social security is extended by more than 1 million; roads and electricity are brought to rural areas; labor unions grow. 1972: Junta is confirmed by election. Torrijos remains as the head of Panamanian Defense Forces. 1974: Panama and Cuba re-establish diplomatic relations. 1976: General Omar Torrijos makes a state visit to Cuba. In the joint communiquï¿½ issued by the two countries, Cuba supports Panama’s struggle for sovereignty in the Canal Zone. 1976: On December 8, CIA Director George H.W. Bush meets with Manuel Noriega for lunch at the home of the Panamanian ambassador to the United States. Noriega, a graduate of the School of the Americas, is on the CIA payroll.

1977: The Carter Administration signs three agreements known as the Carter-Torrijos treaties, arranging for the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama at midnight December 31, 1999. 1979: The Carter-Torrijos treaties take effect October 1 and 65 percent of the Canal Zone is returned to Panama. Areas still under U.S. control are called green zones; those under Panamanian conrol are white zones. Washington has the responsibility of operating and defending the Canal through December 31, 1999, but not after that. 1981: Ronald Reagan becomes president January 20, with his commitment not to "lose" the Canal. Six months later, on July 31, General Omar Torrijos is killed in an airplane crash.

1983: On January 5, in an effort to settle Central American conflicts, the foreign ministers of Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela meet on the Panamanian island of Contadora and draft an initial proposal, calling for an end to all foreign intervention in the region, suspension of all military aid, and negotiations to end El Salvador’s civil war and the fighting in Nicaragua between government troops and “contras.” 1983: General Manuel Noriega takes over in August as commander of Panama’s Defense Forces. The National Assembly endows the Defense Forces with vast powers (control over National Guard which is merged into it, other military and police forces, Canal matters, and functions such as immigration control and regulation of civilian aircraft). Noriega has been working with the CIA since at least 1959 (as a contract agent since 1966 or 1967). The U.S. Army put him on its payroll as an intelligence asset in 1955 and keeps him there until 1986. But Noriega too faces a choice if he wants to achieve real power (see 1968): the choice between Washington and his nationalist base.

1983: In December, Vice-President George H.W. Bush meets with General Noriega, this time at the Panama City airport when Bush is seeking support for the “contras” in Nicaragua. Also at the meeting are Panamanian President Ricardo de la Espriella and the Vice President’s national security adviser Donald P. Gregg. (During his 1988 presidential campaign, Vice-President Bush denies ever having met Noriega, but a photograph of this meeting restores his memory.) 1984: Presidential election of May 6 is a fraud arranged by Reagan Administration operatives and Noriega. Nicolï¿½s Ardito Barletta, former official of the World Bank, wins. Secretary of State George Shultz attends inauguration of his protï¿½gï¿½ (Ardito Barletta had been an assistant to Shultz when Shultz was a University of Chicago professor) to praise the election as democracy in action. 1985: Hugo Spadaforo, who opposes Noriega, is assassinated.

1985: On November 1, CIA Director William Casey meets with Noriega in Washington and complains about Noriega’s part in trade with Cuba that facilitates circumvention of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. 1985: Noriega later tells CBS (interview broadcast on “60 Minutes,” February 7, 1988) that during a meeting on December 17, 1985, with the U.S. National Security Adviser, Admiral John Poindexter, he learned of Washington’s plan to invade Nicaragua. Noriega says that his failure to cooperate is the reason for his indictment in February 1988. 1986: The Reagan Administration proposes turning the administration of the Canal over to Panama by 1990 if U.S. military bases can remain until 2015. 1986: In February, Washington names Arthur Davis as U.S. ambassador to Panama.

1986: On June 12, Seymour Hersh reports in the New York Times that senior State Department, White House, Pentagon and intelligence officials say that Noriega has been providing intelligence information to both Cuba and the United States for 15 years and that he is “a secret investor in Panamanian export companies that sell restricted American technology to Cuba and Eastern European countries.” 1987: On January 23-26, Ovidio Dï¿½az, president of Panama’s National Assembly, heads a delegation of Panamanian legislators to Cuba. Their meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcï¿½n is primarily concerned with the Contadora peace process. Dï¿½az tells a Granma reporter that a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Central America is vital to Panama in order to avoid a pretext that could be used by Washington to undermine the Torrijos‑Carter agreements on handing over possession of the Panama Canal to Panama by the year 2000.

1987: On April 3, three men are indicted in Miami for allegedly selling more than $1 million worth of high‑tech computer equipment in 1985 to Siboney International in Panama, identified as a Cuban "front." 1987: On June 6, Col. Roberto Dï¿½az Herrera, 2nd in command of Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF), accuses Noriega of electoral fraud and murder and sets off the first anti-Noriega protests suppressed by police. 1987: On June 10, President Eric Delvalle, installed by Noriega, declares a state of emergency. Opposition announces creation of the Civic Crusade, which Washington aids. 1987: On September 24, the U.S. Senate unanimously approves non-binding resolution urging Panama to establish civilian government or face cutoff of U.S. aid. 1988: On January 17, the New York Times reports that Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard L.

Armitage made a secret mission to Panama early in January during which he told Noriega "to get out of politics within three months so that the country could have a cushion of civilian rule before elections next year." 1988: Before he has time to “get out of politics,” Noriega is indicted on February 4 by two Federal grand juries in Tampa and Miami on charges of taking $5.4 (Tampa indictment) and $4.6 (Miami) million dollars from Medellï¿½n drug cartel to protect cocaine smuggling and money laundering operations in Panama. Such drug-profiteering has not led to indictments unless Washington has decided to target the person involved. The CIA is no stranger to drug-profiteering; see Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade (New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1991). From 1978 until 1987, Noriega received numerous letters of appreciation from U.S. officials for his cooperation in combating drug trafficking--for example, from Attorney General William French Smith in 1984 and DEA Administrator John C. Lawn in 1987.

1988: Four days after his indictment, Noriega demands withdrawal of the U.S. Southern Command, which has its headquarters in Panama. 1988: On Febrary 25, President Delvalle announces he has fired Noriega, but the National Assembly blocks this move by ousting Delvalle on the following day. Washington continues to recognize Delvalle as president. The National Assembly names Education Minister Manuel Solï¿½s Palma minister in charge of the presidency. 1988: Panama closes banks on March 4 after huge withdrawals by depositors. 1988: On March 11, The Reagan Administration imposes sanctions, including elimination of trade preferences and withholding Canal fees. 1988: On March 16, Noriega puts down coup attempt led by police chief. 1988: In April, the Reagan Administration increases economic sanctions; Reagan prohibits U.S. companies and Government from making payments to Panama and freezes $56 million in Panamanian funds in U.S. banks. More than 2,000 additional U.S. troops begin to arrive in Panama.

1988: On May 8, Panama banks open for limited withdrawals after two-month closure. 1988: On May 13, Senator Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) proposes on ABC-TV that U.S. military forces "go in and get [Noriega] out" of Panama. 1988: On May 25, U.S. Secretary of State Shultz announces that talks about a deal for Noriega’s departure have collapsed. 1988: On May 25, the UN Social and Economic Council elects Panama and Cuba to represent Latin America on the UN Human Rights Commission. 1988: In July, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee opposes a covert plan to overthrow Noriega. The plot is known as “Panama 3” because it is the third coup plot hatched by the CIA against Noriega. President Reagan approved the plan, but the Senate committee fears Noriega would be killed during the coup. The existence of this plot is exposed after a failed coup attempt in October 1989.

Panama has created Dignity Battalions, popular militias to help train workers and farmers to defend Panama against U.S. invasion. GEORGE H.W. BUSH PRESIDENCY 1989: George H.W. Bush is inaugurated as president on January 20. 1989: On March 18, responding to U.S. denial of visas to the mayors of Havana, Managua and Panama City for a conference on drugs in New York, Bogotï¿½'s mayor, Andrï¿½s Pastrana Borrero, says that neither he nor New York's mayor, Ed Koch, were in favor of that decision. 1989: The Panamanian presidential election of May 7 pits Carlos Duque against Guillermo Endara. U.S. Government openly gives $10 million to the Endara campaign (it is illegal for a U.S. candidate to accept election funds from foreign sources). Election results are annulled by the Panamanian Government on May 10. The Bush Administration sends 2,000 more troops. From this time on, U.S.

Armed Forces stage regular military exercises in Panamanian territory--the “white” zones--in violation of treaties. 1989: On May 11, President Bush recalls the U.S. ambassador and plans to dispatch about 1,700 soldiers and 165 marines in phases to reinforce troops already in Panama. 1989: In June the U.S. Justice Department issues statement that U.S. law- enforcement agents may arrest fugitives in foreign countries even if host governments do not approve, preparing the way for the arrest of Noriega after invasion. 1989: Speaking to reporters in Guatemala on June 12, Vice President Dan Quayle warns that "the axis of Cuba, Nicaragua and Panama" opposes the United States and democracy in the region. 1989: Washington’s plans to invade Panama are an open secret. For example, on August 21, an editorial in the Cuban daily newspaper Granma warns of imminent U.S. aggression against Panama. 1989: Provisional President Francisco Rodrï¿½guez takes office on September 1 as President Solï¿½s Palma's term expires.

1989: On September 12, the Bush Administration expands sanctions, including withdrawal of 1989 sugar quota and lengthening the list of companies and individuals barred from receiving payments from U.S. citizens. 1989: On October 3, Noriega puts down another coup attempt which was aided by the U.S. Government. 1989: Two weeks later, on October 17, the Bush Administration says it supports wider latitude for CIA during coup attempts, complaining that restraints about possible death of targets are too limiting. 1989: On October 27, confirming news that first broke in the Los Angeles Times a week earlier, the U.S. Treasury Department announces that Noriega has been designated an agent of Cuba. Since the U.S. Government outlaws trade with Cuban agents, this means that U.S. citizens are prohibited from doing business with him. Noriega's wife, various associates, and many companies are declared Cuban agents either at the same time or soon afterward. 1989: President Bush attends a “Hemispheric celebration of democracy” hosted by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias.

He brings two guests, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro of Nicaragua and Guillermo Endara of Panama. 1989: In November, the U.S. Government announces that after January 31, 1990, it will bar vessels registered in Panama from U.S. ports. 1989: On November 16, the Bush Administration confirms a plan for another coup to oust Noriega. Called “Panama 5” (there were 4 previous plans), it has a $3 million budget. The aim is not assassination but if that were to happen, "that's not constrained," a Government official says. The CIA is supposed to be bound by a 1976 executive order banning its involvement in assassination plots. 1989: On November 22, in his Thanksgiving address to the nation, President Bush declares that the “winds of change” are “transforming the Americas” with “some exceptions: Panama, Nicaragua and Cuba.” 1989: On November 27-29, a conference on U.S. intervention is held in Panama City by Panama's Center for International Studies to inform 118 U.S.

delegates about what has been happening. At the opening session, Provisional President Francisco Rodrï¿½guez says, “You will see a variety of ideas that practically cover the spectrum of contemporary political thought, and all these participants are outstanding figures of the government, of the process of transformation which we Panamanians are determined to carry out.” He speaks “of defending our right to perfect the independence of Panama.” For Panamanians the issue is clearly sovereignty. 1989: On December 15, the Panamanian National Assembly names Noriega head of government and declares that Panama is in "a state of war" with the United States due to the U.S. Government’s harsh economic sanctions and almost-daily military maneuvers in Panamanian territory (the white zones), exercises that are prohibited by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. DECEMBER 20, 1989, INVASION: OPERATION JUST CAUSE *At 1:00 a.m., U.S. officials install Guillermo Endara as Panama’s new president. The secret ceremony takes place on a military base--Fort Clayton, one of 13 bases in the Canal Zone.

*As the new president’s inauguration is taking place, the U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy invade Panama, an area smaller than South Carolina, with a massive air attack and ground assault, including almost 28,000 troops and more than 300 aircraft. Helicopter gunships blast Panama City, where the wooden housing of the poor in El Chorillo is set on fire. The New York Times later reports that U.S. troops encounter “fierce resistance” in San Miguelito, a working-class suburb of 200,000 people, but Miguelito is devastated. Large parts of Colï¿½n are destroyed. Thousands of citizens are held in detention. Bodies are recovered from ruins and cremated. There is a mass burial on Christmas Day. Nobody knows how many civilians are killed because all of them are not counted; estimates range into the thousands. Hospitals overflow with wounded. *The Defense Department tries out one of its new superweapons--the Lockheed F-117A stealth ground attack aircraft.

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney announces that each of two F-117A “Nighthawks” has delivered a 2,000-pound bomb with “pinpoint accuracy.” He is furious when he learns months later, in April, that one of the bombs missed its target by hundreds of yards. General Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is part of a major failure of communication about the mission of the F-117As on their first combat bombing run. *Just as the Pentagon stifled news during the 1983 invasion of Grenada, the Defense Department flies a select media pool based in Washington (rather than Panama) to Howard Air Force Base and then by helicopter to Fort Clayton, where they are restricted to a holding room until the major fighting is over. They are not allowed to leave the base on their own but must be escorted and prevented from taking photographs of realities like damaged helicopters or caskets of U.S. soldiers. Military officials provide misinformation about military and civilian casualties. In one of Noriega’s residences, they show reporters a white substance that General Maxwell Thurman, head of SouthCom, confirms is cocaine.

This makes front-page news in the United States, but it’s disinformation; the “cocaine” is “farina, corn meal and lard” used to make tamales. CNN broadcasts a telephone number for Panama residents to call; those reports provide stories of civilian neighborhoods under attack. *At a press conference on the day of the invasion, President Bush tells the world, “The goals of the United States have been to safeguard the lives of Americans, to defend democracy in Panama, to combat drug trafficking, and to protect the integrity of the Panama Canal treaty,” adding that he has directed the Armed Forces “to bring General Noriega to justice in the United States.” *U.S. troops in armored personnel carriers surround the Cuban, Nicaraguan and Libyan Embassies in Panama City on he pretext that Manuel Noriega may be inside one of them, although both General Thomas Kelly and Rear Admiral Ted Sheafer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acknowledge on U.S. television that there is no evidence that Noriega has sought asylum in any of them. Until January 18, U.S.

troops continue to surround the Cuban Embassy and the home of the Cuban ambassador to Panama, Lï¿½zaro Mora Secade, occasionally detaining the ambassador and other Cuban diplomats. It turns out that Noriega is inside the papal nunciature in Panama City. On January 3, he surrenders to U.S. troops and is immediately flown to prison in Florida. *** Ex-Panama dictator Noriega asks for forgiveness | Reuters Wed Jun 24, 2015 | 10:36 PM EDT Ex-Panama dictator Noriega asks for forgiveness Panama's former dictator Manuel Noriega is seen on a television screen in Panama City June 24, 2015. Reuters/Carlos Jasso PANAMA CITY Former dictator Manuel Noriega on Wednesday asked Panama to forgive the military leaders that ruled the Central American country for two decades before their eventual overthrow after a U.S. military invasion in 1989. The octogenarian, who has been in prison for 26 years and still faces several charges of human rights abuses during his six years in power, said he wanted to "close the cycle of the military era".

"I am asking for forgiveness from all the people who were offended, affected, hurt or humiliated by my actions or those of my superiors in compliance with orders, or those of my subordinates," he said in a prepared statement to a local television station. A U.S. military invasion in 1989 ended Noriega's rule and brought him to the United States where he was convicted in 1992 on drug and racketeering charges and served a prison sentence until 2010. Noriega was then extradited to France to serve a separate sentence on money laundering charges. He returned to Panama in 2011, where he remains in jail for crimes committed during his rule. (Reporting by Elida Moreno; Editing by Michael Perry) ADVERTISEMENT Cold War Museum Back to the 1980s Manuel Noriega and Panama (1980s) As early as 1971, Manuel Noriega was on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In fact, Noriega played a pivotal role in American foreign policy in Caribbean, Central, and South America.

He served as a channel for the United States for both intelligence and communication with the island nation of Cuba. He also served as the vital link between the US government and the contra groups hiding in the jungles throughout Central and South America. It was for this, and many other reasons, that as early as the Carter administration and as late as the Reagan administration, the United States turned a blind eye to Noriega’s rampant corruption, arms and drug smuggling, election fraud in rigging the 1984 Panamanian Presidential election, and even civil rights violations. Senior officials within the American government blocked indictments and actions against Noriega because, though he was a liability to the peace and security of the region, the services he provided to the American fight against communism were too valuable. The value that Noriega held, however, changed with the changing geopolitical climate. As communism began to fall off the map, America’s driving international focus changed from fighting a war on communism to fighting a war on drugs.

In February, 1989, President George Bush declared that the most pressing problem facing the United States was the influx of drugs into the nation; at the same time, Noriega was indicted by two federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa respectively. Among the laundry-list of complaints filled, the Grand Juries charged Noriega with twelve counts of racketeering, drag trafficking, money laundering, and three counts of assisting American-based operatives to smuggle 1.4 million pounds of marijuana into the United States in return for a payment of more than $1 million. Moreover Noriega was charged with assisting the Colombian Medellin cartel in transporting more than two tons of cocaine to the United States via Panama in return for a payment of about $4.5 million, allowing the cartel to build a cocaine processing plant in Panama and of providing shelter for drug traffickers. As the 1989 national elections approached in Panama, the Bush administration, hoping to remove Noriega through a peaceful election and being ever mindful of the rigged election in 1984, called upon various monitoring groups and organizations to send observers to Panama to ensure a fair election; one of these groups was lead by former president Jimmy Carter.

According to official government results, Carlos Duque (Noriega’s handpicked candidate) won a landslide victory with a 2 to 1 margin, however, exit polls conducted by election monitors revealed that Guillermo Endara, the leading opposition candidate had, in fact, received fifty-five (55) percent of the vote to Duque’s thirty-nine (39) percent. Another monitoring group, the Catholic Bishops Conference, found that the margin of victory was even larger, with Duque winning nearly seventy-five (75) percent of the vote. In any case, the Bush administration had concrete proof that Noriega and the PDF had rigged the election. In response to the second consecutive rigged national election, on May 11th, 1989 President Bush laid out a comprehensive plan to both encourage and scare Noriega towards a solution favorable to the United States. Among the measures listed in his plan, Bush called for diplomatic sanctions, US government employees back to the United States, American businessmen and independents to return home, economic sanction, and even dispatching a brigade (between 1,700 to 2,000 soldiers) to bolster America’s existing presence in the country.

Relations between the two nations continued to fester until December 15th, 1989, when the Panamanian National Assembly made Noriega Chief of the government and Maximum Leader of National Liberation. That same day, the National Assembly declared the nation to be in a state of war with the United States. That night, PDF stopped a U.S. military patrol car and held the officer at gunpoint. The next day, PDF forces fired at an America vehicle at a checkpoint and killed a Marine Lieutenant; two Americans who witness the incident, a Lieutenant in the Navy and his wife, were arrested by PDF troops. The man was beaten and the woman was assaulted both physically and sexually before the two were released. The following day, December 17th, 1989, President Bush held a policy meeting in which it was decided that a mere “snatching operation” would be insufficient to guarantee democracy in Panama. The United States would have to commit itself to a full-scale invasion of Panama to dismantle the PDF and establish democracy in Panama. After a successful invasion of the Panama, the PDF regime was completely dismantled and Noriega was under siege. After a few days the standoff ended when Noriega surrendered.

Within a few months, Noriega stood trial in a Florida Federal Court and was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Today, Panama stands as a freely elected democracy and one of America’s closest allies in Central America. By Daniel L. Gordon Volunteer for the Cold War Museum Sources: Manuel Noriega - The New York Times The New York Times Supported by Manuel Noriega News about Manuel Noriega, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times. More Updated: July 7, 2010 Former General Manuel Antonio Noriega was the dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989. A bitter five-year confrontation between the U.S. government and Mr. Noriega began as a diplomatic quarrel, escalated into open military conflict and finally moved into the legal realm. The United States military invaded Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, to overthrow Mr. Noriega and bring him to the United States for trial. The Panamanian Defense Forces, which have since been disbanded, put up little resistance, and Mr. Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy. American troops surrounded the building and blasted heavy metal music to wear him down.

He surrendered on Jan. 2, 1990, 10 days after he had entered the embassy, walking out to waiting soldiers who handcuffed him and put him on a plane to Miami. Convicted in federal court in Miami of turning Panama into a transshipment point for Colombian traffickers smuggling cocaine to the United States, Mr. Noriega was sentenced to 30 years in 1992. On April 26, 2010, Mr. Noriega was put on an Air France flight for Paris after the State Department authorized his extradition. Mr. Noriega lost a court battle seeking to be returned to Panama after completing a federal prison term. He was sentenced on July 7, 2010, by a French judge to seven years in prison on a money laundering conviction. Mr. Noriega was found guilty by the 11th chamber of the Tribunal Correctionnel de Paris. The tribunal also ordered Mr. Noriega to forfeit about $2.9 million that had been blocked in his French bank accounts. In 1999, Mr.

Noriega was convicted in absentia of laundering $3 million in illicit funds for the Medellin drug cartel through international banks and into French accounts. The July 7 result came as he was retried on the same charge after his extradition from Miami. Mr. Noriega was also convicted in Panama of ordering the murder of political opponents, as well as embezzlement and corruption. Panama's General Manuel Noriega and his fall from grace - BBC News BBC News Panama's General Manuel Noriega and his fall from grace 11 December 2011 Close share panel Image caption Noriega went from being a prized US asset to regional bogeyman For many years, Panama's General Manuel Noriega was the embodiment of the terms "military strongman" and "de facto leader". Although he was never the actual president of Panama, he was the key figure from 1983 to 1989 - and a key US ally in Central America for four decades. His connection with the United States dated back to the 1950s, when according to various accounts, he was recruited as a CIA informant while studying at a military academy in Peru.

Noriega, now 77, eventually became a prized American "asset" in a region that was becoming politically hostile to US interests in the wake of the Cuban Revolution. He rose within the ranks of the Panamanian armed forces to become a key supporter of Gen Omar Torrijos, the military ruler who signed a treaty with the US to restore the Panama Canal zone to Panamanian sovereignty in 1977. After Gen Torrijos's death in a mysterious plane crash in 1981, Noriega became the power behind the scenes as head of the security services. The US relied on Panama as a regional listening post and Noriega obliged with unfaltering support for the Contras in Nicaragua, and in the fight against the FMLN guerrillas in El Salvador. At the same time, he began to play an increasingly repressive role internally in Panama, especially after the assassination of Hugo Spadafora, a political opponent who was found beheaded in 1985. Noriega allegedly played a role in the mid-1980s Iran-Contra affair, which involved the smuggling of weapons and drugs to aid US undercover efforts to support the anti-government forces opposing the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

However, the US became increasingly suspicious of Noriega amid indications that he was selling his services to other intelligence bodies, not to mention drug-trafficking organisations. Pop and rock These tensions became public in 1988 when Noriega was indicted in a US federal court on drug-trafficking charges. He was also accused of rigging elections in 1989. Image caption Noriega has spent the past 21 years in custody By mid-December that year, ties had deteriorated so far that President George H W Bush launched an invasion, ostensibly because a US marine had been killed in Panama City, although the operation had been months in the planning. Noriega sought refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Panama City. The US tactic to flush him out was to play deafening pop and heavy metal music non-stop outside the building. By 3 January 1990, it had worked and Noriega surrendered. He was flown to the US with prisoner of war status to face charges of drug-trafficking, money-laundering and racketeering. His trial there was an international spectacle that revealed titillating details of his personal life.

At the time it was said he wore red underwear to ward off the "evil eye". In 2007, he concluded his sentence after 17 years of confinement and public silence in a Miami federal jail. But his legal troubles were far from over and he remained in custody. In 1999, Noriega had been convicted in absentia in France of using $3m in proceeds from Colombia's Medellin drug cartel drug trade to buy property there. In March 2010, the US Supreme Court agreed to a French request extradite him to Paris, where he faced a new trial for money-laundering. Noriega, who denied the charges, was found guilty and sentenced to seven years. His legal odyssey took another turn on 23 November when a French court approved a request from Panama to send him back home, where he was convicted in absentia of murder, corruption and embezzlement. He refused the chance to appeal the decision and flew out of Paris on 11 December, escorted by a team of Panamanian officials and a doctor.

Manuel Noriega extradited to Panama to serve jail terms - BBC News BBC News Manuel Noriega extradited to Panama to serve jail terms 12 December 2011 Close share panel Image caption Noriega was taken to a prison near Panama City Panama's ex-leader Manuel Noriega has been extradited back to his home country from France and taken straight to a prison. His plane touched down in Panama City on Sunday evening after flying from Paris via Madrid. He was convicted in absentia of crimes committed during his time in power in the 1980s. The 77-year-old has already spent more than 20 years in prisons in France and the United States. Last month, a French court approved a request from Panama to send him back home to be jailed over his convictions for murder, corruption and embezzlement. He had the right to appeal, but his lawyers said he wanted to return to Panama. Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez has said the government's priority is to guarantee Noriega's safety. Noriega travelled with a team of Panamanian officials, including the country's attorney-general and a doctor.

After his arrival, he was escorted to El Renacer jail, south east of Panama City. Murder of opponents Although he was never president, General Manuel Noriega served as Panama's de facto leader between 1983 to 1989. Image caption Noriega served as Panama's de facto leader in the 1980s Once a US ally, he was arrested by invading American troops in January 1990, amid allegations he had turned the Central American nation into a drug-trafficking hub. He spent 20 years in prison in the US after being convicted there of the charges. In 2010, he was extradited from the US to France, where he had been convicted in absentia of laundering money from Colombian drug gangs through a French bank to buy property in Paris. He received a seven-year jail sentence from the French court. In Panama itself, he faces three 20-year jail terms for crimes committed during his rule, including the murders of political opponents. However, it remains unclear whether he will remain in prison, as Panama allows people aged 70 years and above to serve their sentences at home. The U.S.

Invasion of Panama 1989: The Injustice of "Operation Just Cause" The U.S. at War - A History of Shame The U.S. Invasion of Panama 1989: The Injustice of "Operation Just Cause" Revolution #017 , October 9, 2005, posted at revcom.us This is the second article in this series. On December 20, 1989, over 27,000 U.S. troops invaded the small Central American country of Panama. The world�s most powerful military overwhelmed the Panama Defense Force (PDF) and its 3,000 soldiers. AH-64 Apache helicopter raked the country, both military bases and working class communities. After the PDF crumbled, fighting by irregular Panamanian militia lasted a few days. The invaders called this "Operation Just Cause." What were the reasons given for this invasion? They are all too familiar: The U.S. President, then George Bush, Sr., said he was removing an evil dictator, General Manuel Noriega, who was brutalizing his own people. Noreiega was portrayed on TV as a madman waving a machete.

After a concocted incident provoked by U.S. troops, Bush claimed that an invasion was needed to "protect American lives." Meanwhile, this same Noriega was actually on the CIA payroll (right up to invasion), and the main reason for the invasion was to make sure that the Panama Canal remained under U.S. imperialist conrol. Saving Panama�s People from Brutality? The U.S. has never had qualms about brutalizing the Panamanian people--not during this invasion and not during the previous 83 years of U.S. domination. In the 1989 invasion, heavy U.S. firepower was turned on civilian communities. The poor working class neighborhood of El Chorillo was burnt to the ground and quickly got a new nickname--"Little Hiroshima." Panamanians estimate that between 2,000 and 6,000 people were killed in this invasion. Many of them were dumped into mass graves. Witnesses reported that U.S. troops used flame-throwers on the dead, the bodies shriveling up as they burned. This invasion was obviously NOT done to protect Panama�s people! Protecting American Lives? A U.S soldier was killed by PDF troops.

Bush said this meant all 35,000 Americans stationed in Panama were in danger. In reality, the U.S. government had been working hard to provoke such an incident for months--by running military "exercises" through the streets of Panama City. A schoolteacher was killed by U.S. troops in one exercise. In this artificially charged climate, U.S. soldiers ran a Panamanian checkpoint near a sensitive military installation--and one of them got shot. And what, after all, were all these 35,000 Americans doing in Panama? They served the U.S. economic, military, and political domination of Panama. And what did it mean to "protect" their safety? It could only mean tightening that domination. Freeing a Country from a Thug? General Noriega was a military officer handpicked and trained by U.S. to run Panama. He became a paid CIA operative in 1967 and attended the U.S. Army�s notorious School of the Americas (also known as the School of Assassins). When the previous Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos fell out of U.S.

favor (and then fell out of the sky in a 1981 plane crash), Manuel Noriega was hoisted into power with U.S. backing. Noriega certainly was a corrupt and vicious thug. This was (in part) why Noriega was seen as a valuable "asset," as a ruthless man whose loyalty could be bought, who would do whatever was needed to serve U.S. interests (including suppress the Panamanian people). Under Noriega, U.S. military operations expanded in Panama. Bush, Sr. personally met with Noriega in 1967 (when he was head of the CIA) and in 1983 (when he was vice president). In the early �80s, Noriega helped set up the CIA�s "drugs-for-guns" trade that used cocaine trafficking to finance their secret Contra war against Nicaragua. All during the Reagan �80s, Noriega got personal CIA and Pentagon payments of nearly $200,000 a year. So it was complete hypocrisy for the U.S. government to claim that they were liberating the Panamanian people. The U.S. government (and Bush Sr.

personally) had after all imposed this brutal agent on Panama for many years. When Noriega stole the 1984 Panamanian election, Reagan�s Secretary of State praised the farce for "initiating the process of democracy." But then (with more hypocrisy) the Bush administration suddenly started claiming by 1989 that their invasion was now needed to overthrow Noriega and "restore democracy." And so what did the invading U.S. force replace Noreiga with in 1989? More handpicked puppets! Elite U.S. forces seized Noriega and flew him to the U.S. to stand trial--and to take care that he was never allowed to spill all the secrets he knew about the CIA and George Bush 1. Meanwhile, Guillermo Endara--the U.S. government�s hand-picked choice--was sworn in as president of Panama on a U.S. base in the U.S.-controlled Canal Zone. The new Panamanian president and others in his government were tied to Panamanian banks deep into drug trade and money laundering. And none of them, of course, came to power to serve the Panamanian people.

Elections were held later--under conditions that guaranteed results that would closely serve what the U.S. wanted and needed in Panama. And the main "guarantee" of those results was, of course, the soldiers, guns, and planes of the U.S. military packed all around Panama--forces who had just proven, in case anyone had doubts, that they could be merciless in enforcing U.S. interests. So What was the Invasion Really About? The U.S. interest in Panama has always focused on one main thing: the strategic importance of the Panama Canal. The Canal was crucial to U.S. global operations--its capitalist penetration of Latin America and Asia, and its ability to shift its military forces aggressively around the world. The U.S. stole Panama from Colombia in 1903. They colonized the Canal Zone and packed it with U.S. bases--so that no one (including Panama�s people) could challenge U.S. control. And after World War 2, it became the headquarters of SOUTHCOM--the U.S. military command center for gathering intelligence, carrying out intrigues, and suppressing insurgencies throughout Latin America.

In the 1970s, faced with defeat in Vietnam and growing challenges from its Soviet rivals, the U.S. ruling class decided to change how they exercised control over the Panama Canal Zone--from direct U.S. colonial control, to control through the Panamanian neocolonial government. As that changeover approached, Noriega looked less and less like the man-for-the-job. Just ten days before much of the administration of the Canal was scheduled to go over to Panama (on January 1, 1990) the U.S. invaded to get rid of Noriega. Thousands of Panamanians were killed so that Washington could be confident it would keep control of the Canal--and so a new set of corrupt rulers could imposed. It represented a tightening of the U.S. grip on Panama and all of Latin America. It was one of the first new global moves (after the collapse of the Soviet Union) to push forward the U.S. as the world�s "only superpower"--soon to be followed by the first Gulf War in 1990 (against that other, estranged U.S. ally Saddam Hussein!). This invasion of Panama was a U.S.

war of lies and shame. This series is available online at revcom.org/history.htm This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolution Online Write: Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654 Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: 773-227-4497 General Manuel Noriega: a profile - Telegraph USA General Manuel Noriega: a profile Manuel Noriega's extradition to France caps an amazing fall from grace for the former CIA informant who spent 20 years languishing in US prisons after being ousted as Panama's strong man ruler. Noriega was convicted of drug trafficking and racketeering, and served 15 years of a 30-year sentence in a Miami prison Photo: REUTERS 9:11AM BST 27 Apr 2010 Dispatched to France to answer money laundering charges, General Noriega was a ruthless and wily dictator who struck fear into the hearts of his Panamanian countrymen during his 1983-1989 rule.

Accused of turning his strategically important Central American nation into a major transit hub for illegal drugs and even suspected of being a double agent for communist Cuba, he was soon dumped by his US backers. Following a disputed 1989 election, President George H W Bush sent in an invasion force that eventually led to his humiliating surrender after being holed up for days in the Vatican embassy in Panama City. The "prisoner-of-war" soon became a convicted felon as an April 1992 trial in Miami, Florida saw him convicted on eight counts of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. His ignominy was complete when on Monday the US washed their hands of their one-time ally, putting the 74-year-old on an Air France jet in Miami after more than two decades in American custody. Related Articles General Manuel Noriega jailed for seven years 07 Jul 2010 Born to a poor family with Colombian roots, Noriega abandoned his early dreams of becoming a psychiatrist due his lack of means, enlisting instead in the military. It was here he found his calling and was soon promoted to lieutenant.

In 1968 he joined the military coup that toppled President Arnulfo Arias and began rapidly rising through the ranks as he defended his mentor, the general Omar Torrijos, in the ensuing power struggle. Noriega became one of the closest confidants of Torrijos, the country's de-facto leader from 1968-1981, and was promoted to head of the Panama's secret police. This brought him into close contact with American spies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which was keeping a close eye on the country to protect the strategic Panama Canal, then under US administration. Noriega soon became a regular informant for the Americans and was handsomely rewarded to the tune of about $320,000 – although he claimed at his trial that he was a prize asset that cost the CIA millions. As rumours began to swirl in the early 1970s that he was involved in illegal drug-trafficking between Latin America and the United States, the US administration decided it might be time to abandon their old ally.

Plans were drawn up to assassinate Noriega, who was becoming an increasing embarrassment to the US administration, but at the last minute then president Richard Nixon refused to give the green light. Throughout the 1970s Noriega showed his political deftness by shaking off mounting accusations that he was orchestrating the disappearances of Panamanian opposition figures. By the start of the 1980s, he had earned a reputation as the most feared man in Panama. When Torrijos died in a mysterious plane crash in 1981, Noriega's position only strengthened. Under the new military ruler, Ruben Dario Paredes del Rio, he was promoted to chief-of-staff, and given a general's stars. Within a short period of time, power had effectively concentrated in Noriega's hands and in 1983 he succeeded Paredes as military ruler. As the country's new strong man, repression increased and the United States sought to undermine his regime. A CIA leak in 1986 led The New York Times to publish an article linking Noriega to the decapitation two years earlier of one of his opponents, Hugo Spadafora.

The following year one of his former chiefs-of-staff dealt Noriega a new blow when he accused his ex-boss of corruption and electoral fraud, as well as being behind the plane crash in which Torrijos died. The accusations triggered huge demonstrations in Panama, even though Noriega still retained some popular support, and led the US Senate to call for him to step down pending an official inquiry. Noriega refused and defiantly stayed in power with critics maintaining that the country became a crossroads in Latin America's drug trade, particularly in helping Colombia's powerful Medellin cartel in laundering drug money in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes. Manuel Noriega Back in Panama for More Prison Time - The New York Times The New York Times Americas |Noriega Is Sent to Prison Back in Panama, Where the Terror Has Turned to Shrugs Search Continue reading the main story PANAMA — Nearly 22 years ago an American military plane whisked the de facto leader of this nation, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega , off to Florida to face trial, and ultimately a prison sentence, for drug trafficking. On Sunday evening, a commercial airliner landed here with much less fanfare, carrying him back.

After flying more than 15 hours from Paris, where he had served additional time for money laundering, Mr. Noriega arrived at El Renacer Prison, a former American facility, to complete a 20-year sentence for three convictions stemming from several deaths and await possible further judgment in Panama’s courts. As the plane descended, a doctor checked Mr. Noriega, 77, who appeared to react to seeing the capital city from the air for the first time in years, a correspondent on the plane said. Mr. Noriega was kept out of public view after he landed at 6:08 p.m. aboard Iberia Airlines Flight 6345. A photo released by the Panamanian government showed him at the prison in a wheelchair, with a thin smile and wearing a dark suit, a red tie and a dark windbreaker slung partly over him. Continue reading the main story Later, prison officials, responding to rumors that Mr. Noriega was not really in Panama, wheeled him to a doorway and Mr. Noriega, now in a red long-sleeve shirt and white sweatpants, gestured to reporters kept far away.

The prison director, Ángel Calderón, said Mr. Noriega was declining interviews and close-up pictures, as his right. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The limited glimpse just added to many Panamanians’ sense of Mr. Noriega as a cipher. Three-quarters of the citizens were young children when he was seized, so he often comes across as someone parents may talk about but one who arouses little passion either way. Panama has clearly moved on. It has held four presidential elections declared clean by international observers. An economic boom has altered the skyline with gleaming skyscrapers. Even longtime opponents concede that public rancor has faded, although many who lost loved ones or were tortured under the Noriega dictatorship, from 1983 to 1989, said they would fight for him to face additional trials here and demand his accomplices pay, too. Relatives of Dr. Hugo Spadafora, a popular opponent whose decapitated body was found in 1985, recently demanded that Mr. Noriega disclose the location of Dr. Spadafora’s skull. Others believe Mr.

Noriega can shed light on dozens of murders and disappearances, and there is speculation he harbors political secrets that can damage the elite. Still, he is largely the obsession of longtime Noriega watchers, not Panamanians in general. “There is no hatred among the public,” said Guillermo Sanchez Borbon, a co-author of the Noriega biography “In the Time of the Tyrants.” “We Panamanians are the kind of people to make a fuss for a couple of days and then move on.” Photo Manuel Noriega in 1990. Credit Reuters Demonstrations leading up to his return were small, and on Sunday people flocked instead to the annual holiday children’s parade on Calle 50, a major thoroughfare here that was a hotbed of protest when he ruled. Renata Flores, 52, said she had waved white flags and banged pots in protests in the months before Mr. Noriega’s departure but shrugged off his return now. “He has been in prison and is probably not going to have a big impact now,” she said, holding the hand of her niece, Florencia, 12. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address.

Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy Florencia said she knew little about Mr. Noriega. “The truth is,” she said, “I only know they used to call him Pineapple Face,” a reference to his severe acne and resulting scars. It was, then, a somewhat anticlimactic end to an extraordinary odyssey. Mr. Noriega rose through the ranks of the military during the 1970s and 1980s, eventually assuming command and essentially running the country through threats, intimidation and force. Advertisement Continue reading the main story He was an informant for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration, historians have written, but also took payments from Colombian drug traffickers to allow cocaine to pass through Panama to the United States, American prosecutors said. As tensions grew, President George Bush ordered an invasion on Dec. 20, 1989, of more than 27,000 troops, then the largest American military action since the Vietnam War. Mr. Noriega, exhausted and tormented by deafening heavy metal music that troops played outside the Vatican Embassy, where he had taken refuge, surrendered on Jan.

4, 1990. He was convicted on drug and racketeering charges in 1992 and, at the conclusion of his prison sentence in Miami, was extradited to France in 2010. With his French sentence completed, Mr. Noriega could have walked free had Panama not requested his extradition, Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez has said, batting away suggestions from critics of Panama’s president, Ricardo Martinelli, that he orchestrated Mr. Noriega’s return to distract attention from political scandals at home. Those who had fought his regime said they hoped his arrival reminded people that democracy should not be taken for granted. “Society should remember again that the military cannot return to power,” said Roberto Arosemena, a former opposition party leader repeatedly beaten by Mr. Noriega’s police in 1987. A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2011, on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Noriega Is Sent to Prison Back in Panama, Where the Terror Has Turned to Shrugs. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

Question: General Manuel Noriega, was overthrown in 1989, as leader of which Central American country?
Answer: PANAMA