On this day in 1990, Panama’s General Manuel Antonio Noriega, after holing up for 10 days at the Vatican embassy in Panama City, surrenders to U.S. military troops to face charges of drug trafficking. Noriega was flown to Miami the following day and crowds of citizens on the streets of Panama City rejoiced. On July 10, 1992, the former dictator was convicted of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Noriega, who was born in Panama in 1938, was a loyal soldier to General Omar Torrijos, who seized power in a 1968 coup. Under Torrijos, Noriega headed up the notorious G-2 intelligence service, which harassed and terrorized people who criticized the Torrijos regime. Noriega also became a C.I.A. operative, while at the same time getting rich smuggling drugs.
In 1981, Omar Torrijos died in a plane crash and after a two-year power struggle, Noriega emerged as general of Panama’s military forces. He became the country’s de facto leader, fixing presidential elections so he could install his own puppet officials. Noriega’s rule was marked by corruption and violence. He also became a double agent, selling American intelligence secrets to Cuba and Eastern European governments. In 1987, when Panamanians organized protests against Noriega and demanded his ouster, he declared a national emergency, shut down radio stations and newspapers and forced his political enemies into exile.
That year the United States cut off aid to Panama and tried to get Noriega to resign; in 1988, the U.S. began considering the use of military action to put an end to his drug trafficking. Noriega voided the May 1989 presidential election, which included a U.S.-backed candidate, and in December of that year he declared his country to be in a state of war with the United States. Shortly afterward, an American marine was killed by Panamanian soldiers. President George H.W. Bush authorized “Operation Just Cause,” and on December 20, 1989, 13,000 U.S. troops were sent to occupy Panama City, along with the 12,000 already there, and seize Noriega. During the invasion, 23 U.S. troops were killed in action and over 300 were wounded. Approximately 450 Panamanian troops were killed; estimates for the number of civilians who died range from several hundred to several thousand, with thousands injured.
Today, Noriega, derogatorily nicknamed “Pineapple Face” in reference to his pockmarked skin, is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Miami.
My aircrew buddy and I sat through the “we are invading Panama” brief together. As we left, she or I said “What did Panama do to piss US off?” We were young silly airmen, interested in surviving until payday.
My friend nicknamed Lizard (waves), aboard one of the several AWACS planes with augmented flight deck to stay in the air 24 hours, said it wasn’t really war; it was just a really longass day.
After returning from Vietnam in 1972, I was stationed in Panama from 1973-1976. Noriega’s ruthless control of the Panamanian National Guard’s intelligence service was well known, as were his anti-American views, possibly triggered initially by Noriega’s perceived “disrespectful” treatment by the instructional staff while a student at the School of the Americas. Noriega was responsible for “silencing” the critics and perceived political enemies of dictator Omar Torrijos. It’s difficult to criticize when you don’t have a head.
A neighbor of mine was a member of the Army’s 470th Military Intelligence Battalion, and he was debriefing Noriega at the time before he was turned over to the CIA. Noriega was indeed a double agent and working with Cuban intelligence. It is doubtful he gave anything of real value to the Cubans, and even though he had direct access to Fidel, and he certainly didn’t give anything worth a shit to us. But I bet he loved collecting a fat paycheck from both sides.
I witnessed an airplane carrying Noriega and his wife crash while trying to make a single-engine landing at a rather isolated airfield in Rio Hato, Panama. I was the first to arrive at the crash site and forced open the door to the passenger cabin. Out burst Noriega, who evidently cared little about his wife’s welfare, and she eventually made her way out. Fucking coward.
Noriega turned Panama into a safe haven for Colombian drug traffickers, even the kingpins of the Cali Cartel. It got so bad that the top Cali kingpin, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, established the notorious Inter Americas Bank in Panama City and brazenly listed himself in true name as a member of the board of directors. You can’t get a better money laundering conduit when you own a fucking bank.
Noriega is a dirtbag of the first order. The end.
Cool story. I posted this because I thought you might have some insight. I was right again. I never tire of being right. 🙂