Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (1934–2017) was the commander of the Panama Defense Forces and the de facto ruler of Panama from 1983 until December 1989. Although he never held the title of president, he controlled the government through a series of figurehead civilian leaders and used the military to suppress opposition, including the annulled 1989 election won by Guillermo Endara.
Noriega had a long, documented relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, dating back to the 1960s, during which he supplied information on Cuba and Central American insurgencies. By the mid-1980s, however, U.S. authorities turned against him as evidence mounted of his involvement in cocaine trafficking with the Medellín Cartel, money laundering, and the 1985 murder of opposition figure Hugo Spadafora. In February 1988, federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa indicted him on drug-related charges.
Relations with Washington deteriorated sharply through 1989. After Noriega's regime nullified the May 1989 election results and Panamanian forces killed a U.S. Marine in December, President George H. W. Bush ordered Operation Just Cause, launched on 20 December 1989. U.S. forces invaded Panama, installed Endara, and Noriega took refuge in the Vatican's apostolic nunciature before surrendering on 3 January 1990.
He was tried in U.S. federal court in Miami and convicted in 1992 on charges including drug trafficking and racketeering, receiving a 40-year sentence (later reduced). After completing his U.S. sentence, he was extradited to France in 2010 for a money-laundering conviction, then to Panama in 2011, where he served additional time for murders committed under his rule, including those of Spadafora and officer Moisés Giroldi. He died in Panama City on 29 May 2017.
Noriega's case is frequently cited in debates over U.S. interventionism, the legality of capturing foreign heads of state, and the application of prisoner-of-war status under the Third Geneva Convention, which a U.S. court ruled applied to him.
Example
In December 1989, U.S. President George H. W. Bush ordered Operation Just Cause to remove Manuel Noriega from power in Panama following his nullification of the May 1989 election.
Frequently asked questions
No. He ruled as commander of the Panama Defense Forces from 1983 to 1989 through puppet civilian presidents and never won or held the presidency himself.
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