MANUEL NORIEGA, THE FORMER POPULIST STRONGMAN OF PANAMA WHO RULED WITH AN IRON FIST, DIES AT HOME AFTER SPENDING DECADES IN FOREIGN PRISONS. HE WAS 83.
Ex-strongman ruled Panama with an iron fist
PANAMA CITY • Manuel Noriega had become a problem. At least that’s the way it looked from Washington.
For years, the Panamanian military man had been a close and sometimes clandestine ally of U.S. governments as he rose to power in a country defined by a U.S. strategic asset, the Panama Canal, and in a region where America was fighting a series of proxy wars against Soviet allies.
But things were going sour. The populist strongman who had long co-operated with the CIA was growing increasingly independent, more embarrassingly thuggish. Officials in Washington — and grand juries in Florida — decided he was in cahoots with the drug traffickers he once helped fight.
So in December 1989, President George H.W. Bush sent American troops into Panama City to arrest Noriega.
After a few days of fighting, the Central American dictator fled to asylum at the Vatican Embassy on Christmas Eve, setting off a bizarre siege in which U.S. troops bombarded the mission with thunderous rock and rap music. Ten days later, he finally surrendered and was whisked to Miami.
Noriega was never again a free man. He was imprisoned first in Florida, then in France, and finally at home in Panama, where he died on Monday at age 83.
Manuel Antonio Noriega was born poor in Panama City on Feb. 11, 1934, and was raised by foster parents.
He joined Panama’s Defence Forces in 1962 and steadily advanced through the ranks, mainly through loyalty to his mentor, Gen. Omar Torrijos, who became Panama’s de facto leader after a 1968 coup.
As Torrijos’ intelligence chief, Noriega monitored opponents and developed close ties with U.S. intelligence agencies guarding against possible threats to the canal.
Two years after Torrijos died in a mysterious plane crash in 1981, Noriega became the head of the armed forces and Panama’s ruler.
Noriega ruled with an iron fist, ordering the deaths of those who opposed him and maintaining a murky, close and conflictive relationship with the U.S.
Considered a valued CIA asset, Noriega was paid millions of dollars for assistance to the U.S. throughout Latin America, including acting as a liaison to Cuban leader Fidel Castro. He also helped the U.S. seize drug loads at sea and track money laundering in Panama’s banks, and reported on guerrilla and terrorist activities.
But Washington ultimately soured on him, especially after a top political opponent was killed in 1985 and Noriega appeared to join forces with Latin American drug traffickers. Foes in the Panamanian military tried several coups but failed, and their leaders were summarily executed by firing squad.
The beginning of his downfall came in 1988 when federal grand juries in the Florida cities of Miami and Tampa indicted Noriega on drug trafficking charges.
Prosecutors accused Noriega of helping Colombia’s Medellin cocaine cartel ship “tons and tons of a deadly white powder” to the United States. The defence cited court documents describing him as the “CIA’s man in Panama” and argued that the indictment “smells all the way from here to Washington.”
Jurors convicted Noriega in April 1992 of eight of 10 charges. Under the judge’s instructions, they were told not to consider the political side of the case — including whether the U.S. had the right to invade Panama and bring Noriega to trial in the first place.
During his years at a minimum-security federal prison outside Miami, Noriega got special prisoner of war treatment, allowed to wear his Panamanian military uniform and insignia when in court. He lived in a bungalow apart from other inmates and had his own television and exercise equipment. He was said to be a TV news junkie and a voracious reader about current events.
After completing his 17-year sentence in 2007, Noriega was extradited to France and given a sevenyear sentence for money laundering.
But Panama wanted Noriega to return to face in-absentia convictions and two prison terms of 20 years for embezzlement, corruption and murder of opponents. In mid-2011, France approved his extradition to Panama.
In recent years Noriega had suffered various ailments, including high blood pressure and bronchitis.
In 2016, doctors detected the rapid growth of a benign brain tumour, and the following January a court granted him house arrest to prepare for surgery.
He is survived by his wife Felicidad and daughters Lorena, Thays and Sandra.
PROSECUTORS ACCUSED NORIEGA OF HELPING THE MEDELLIN CARTEL SHIP ‘TONS OF A DEADLY WHITE POWDER’ TO THE U.S.