PANAMA:

THE RESUMÉ OF MANUEL NORIEGA,

THE MOST FAMOUS GRADUATE OF THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS

(1) Noriega, considered "outstanding" at the SOA, is on the CIA payroll (to the tune of up to $100,000

a year) from the mid-60s to the mid-80s.

(2) His drug trafficking, though known, is no obstacle to his chumminess with George Bush (CIA

director and "Vice" President) during the 70s and early 80s.

(3) His true crime is being an independent leader of Panama, just before the US is obliged to return

the stolen Panama Canal Zone on January 1st, 1990.

(4) So after publicly demonizing his longtime friend and employee, Bush slaughters thousands of

Panamanians and installs a puppet government, in the nick of time, on December 20th, 1989.

(5) Let’s not call any more presidents "wimps", ok? It just pisses ‘em off.

The gory details�

50s-60s Spy for US, informing on colleagues in his socialist party, and on leftist students at his Peruvian

military academy. � New York Times, 9/28/88

1967 Finishes courses at SOA including Infantry Officer, Combat Intelligence Officer, Military Intelligence

(Counter-Intelligence Officer Course), and Jungle Operations. An instructor calls him "outstanding." �

John Dinges, Our Man in Panama, 1991

1971 US has "hard evidence" of his heavy involvement in drug trafficking, "sufficient for indictment".

Nixon sets in motion initial plans for his assassination. � Frontline (PBS), 1/30/90

1970-76 Meanwhile, Noriega is in the pay of the CIA and the Pentagon, reportedly receiving more than

$100,000 per year. � Newsweek, 1/15/90

1976 CIA Director George Bush gives him a VIP tour of CIA headquarters in Washington; he resides with

Bush's Deputy Director. � Dinges

1977 Carter officials reportedly remove him from the US payroll. � New York Times, 10/2/88

1979 Gives haven to the overthrown Shah of Iran, brutal US-installed dictator.

1981 Becomes part of a ruling military junta after 13-year dictator and SOA graduate General Omar

Torrijos dies in a plane crash, later blamed on Noriega and the CIA by other junta members.

Reagan/Bush officials put him back on the US payroll, again reportedly at more than $100,000 per year.

� San Francisco Chronicle, 6/11/87

1981-83 Extensive drug trafficking and money laundering involving the Medellin, Colombia cocaine

cartel. � Dinges

8/83 Seizes command of the National Guard (to be renamed "Panama Defense Forces"). He is the

effective chief of state.

11/83 Washington visits with White House, State Department and Pentagon, including CIA Director

William Casey. � Newsweek, 1/15/90

1983-86 The US loves him for: spying on Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega; allowing the United States to

set up listening posts in Panama, with which they monitor sensitive communications in all of Central

America and beyond; aiding the American warfare against the rebels in El Salvador and the government

of Nicaragua (facilitating the flow of money and arms to the contras, allowing the US to base spy planes

in Panama in clear violation of the canal treaties, giving the US permission to train contras in Panama,

and spying in support of American sabotage inside of Nicaragua). � Newsweek, 1/15/90

The American love/hate relationship �

1983-86 The US hates him for: suspected spying for Fidel Castro and Daniel Ortega; helping Cuba

circumvent the US economic embargo; helping to get weapons for the Sandinistas and for the guerrillas

m El Salvador and Colombia; transferring high technology to Eastern Europe.

1984 The CIA and the Medellin cartel help finance the campaign of Noriega’s candidate for President,

Nicolas Barletta. Barletta is declared the winner ten days after the election, while the US ambassador

hides from the media information that Barletta had been defeated by at least four thousand votes.

Political opposition parties demonstrate for weeks against the egregious fraud, to no avail. Reagan

welcomes Barletta to the Oval Office, and Secretary of State George Schultz attends the inauguration.

1985 A few enthusiastic Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents and US Attorneys, keeping a low profile,

begin investigations into his drug activities.

6/86 The New York Times carries a front-page story recounting many of his questionable activities,

including his drug trafficking and money laundering operations, and the murder of a political opponent.

It is the most detailed and damning report on him to appear in the US media. The Reagan administration

reassures him that he need not be overly concerned about the story.

7/86 Oliver North arranges for an American public relations firm to work on improving Panama's and

Noriega's image, in return for continued support of the Nicaraguan sabotage campaign. � Iran-Contra

testimony of PR firm official

1987 Drug Enforcement Agency head John Lawn praises Noriega’s "personal commitment" in helping to

solve a major money laundering case. High US law enforcement officials, including Lawn, work alongside

Noriega at a meeting of Interpol, even advising him on how to achieve a better public image. � Los

Angeles Times, 1/16/90

1988 Indictment on Federal drug charges. (His principal protectors in Washington are gone: North had

been relieved of his duties in 1986, Casey had died in 1987.) All the charges relate to activities prior to

June 1984 (except for one drugs/arms deal in 1986). The DEA is deeply divided between those who

investigated him as a criminal and those who swore by the authenticity of his cooperation with their

agency. � Dinges.

5/89 The CIA provides more than $10 million in aid to Noriega’s opposition. When the ballot counting

indicated his candidate losing heavily, he stops the electoral process and allows violence against

opposition candidates and their supporters. Unlike 1984, Washington expresses its moral indignation

about the fraudulent election. � US News & World Report, 5/1/89

10/89 Elements of the Panamanian Defense Forces take custody of him for two hours and offer to turn

him over to the US military, but are refused (Bush has never clearly explained this decision). They

receive no US support, and pro-Noriega forces free him.� New York Times, 10/8/90

Another brutal American invasion�

12/89 The US invades Panama, ostensibly in order to capture Noriega, who is in a Florida prison serving

a forty-year sentence for drug trafficking. The official body count is approximately 500 Panamanians

(mainly civilians) dead, but nongovernmental sources with no less evidence count thousands more;

there are also over 3,000 wounded, tens of thousands left homeless. Plus 23 American dead, 324

wounded. Reporter: "Was it really worth it to send people to their death for this? To get Noriega?"

Bush: "[E]very human life is precious, and yet I have to answer, yes, it has been worth it." � New York

Times, 12/22/89

1990 The original post-invasion plans called for outright US military government, with the head of the

US Army Southern command as Panama’s de facto ruler. At the last minute a decision is made to install

Guillermo Endara as president, but his government is "merely a façade". � official Pentagon study of

the Panama occupation, cited in The Nation, 10/3/94. Endara, one of the two vice presidents, and the

attorney general, all have links to drug trafficking and money laundering. � EXTRA!, 1/90. The US

confiscates thousands of boxes of Noriega government documents and refuses to hand over any of

them to Panamanian investigators. "The United States is protecting robbers and thieves and obstructing

justice. We are the owners of the documents. If I am to complete my work, I have to see the

documents." � Panama’s chief prosecutor, Los Angeles Times, 6/23/90

1991 Colombian drug cartels and associates of Noriega once again turn Panama into a narcotics

transshipment center; there are far more cocaine production facilities than ever existed under Noriega,

and drug use in Panama is reportedly at a far higher level. � Los Angeles Times, 4/28/91

The Organization of American States approved a resolution "to deeply regret the military intervention in

Panama" by a vote of 20 to 1 (the US).

"We are outraged � [the OAS] missed an historic opportunity to get beyond its traditional narrow

concern with nonintervention." � Richard Boucher, State Department spokesman, Los Angeles Times,

12/23/89.

"This land is my land, that land is my land, there’s no land here that isn’t my land." � US soldiers

singing near the Vatican Embassy, where Noriega had taken sanctuary during the invasion.

Manuel Noriega Fast Facts

By CNN Library

February 14, 2014 -- Updated 0019 GMT (0819 HKT)

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega speaks during a military ceremony in 20 May 1988.

(CNN) -- Here is a look at the life of Manuel Noriega, former dictator of Panama.

Personal:

Birth date: February 11, 1934

Birth place: Panama City, Panama

Birth name: Manuel Antonio Noriega Morena

Father: Ricaurte Noriega , accountant

Mother: Maria Feliz Morena

Marriage: Felicidad Sieiro (late 1960s-present)

Children: Sandra, Thays (daughter) and Lorena

Education: Military School of Chorrillos, Peru, Engineering, 1962

Other Facts:

Was on the CIA's payroll for intelligence work.

Abandoned by his parents at five, he was raised by his aunt, Mama Luisa.

While in U.S. custody, Noriega was afflicted with prostate cancer and suffered a stroke.

The first foreign head of state to be convicted in a U.S. court.

Timeline:

1968 - Lieutenant of the Panama National Guard.

1970-1983 - Promoted to lieutenant colonel and chief of military intelligence.

1971 - At the request of the U.S., travels to Cuba to help secure the release of the crews of two

American freighters seized by Cuba.

1983-1989 - Takes command of the Panamanian Army.

1983-1990 - Military dictator of Panama.

August 1983 - Is promoted to general and commander of the National Guard.

June 12, 1986 - An expose of Noriega by Seymour Hersh appears in the New York Times, accusing him of

murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.

February 4, 1989 - The U.S. indicts Noriega on charges of racketeering, laundering drug money and drug

smuggling.

December 20, 1989 - The U.S. invades Panama and launches "Operation Just Cause" to oust Noriega.

January 3, 1990 - Surrenders after 10 days spent in the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Panama City.

April 9, 1992 - Is convicted on eight counts of drug smuggling and racketeering.

July 10, 1992 - Is sentenced to 40 years in prison.

July 6, 1993-September 6, 1993 - Trial, in absentia, for the murder of Dr. Hugo Spadafora. Noriega is

convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

March 1994 - Is convicted, in absentia, of the October 4, 1989, murder of Major Moises Giroldi. And

later is sentenced to 20 years in prison.

March 4, 1999 - His U.S. sentence is reduced to 30 years.

1999 - Is convicted in absentia from a Paris court on charges that he had laundered $2.8 million in drug

money by buying property in France.

August 24, 2007 - Judge William Hoeveler rules that Noriega can be extradited to France to serve a 10-

year prison sentence for money laundering. Attorneys for Noriega argued that his status as a prisoner of

war meant he should be sent back to Panama.

September 9, 2007 - Noriega's scheduled mandatory release date from prison. However, due to appeals

of his extradition to France, Noriega is not released.

January 14, 2009 - The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hears arguments in Noriega's bid to avoid

extradition to France. The Court will later address whether his status as a Prisoner of War, under the

rules of the Geneva Convention, means he must be repatriated to Panama.

April 2009 - The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denies Noriega's petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

January 25, 2010 - The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Noriega's appeal.

April 26, 2010 - Noriega is extradited to France after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signs an

extradition order.

July 7, 2010 - Noriega is found guilty of money laundering in a French court and is sentenced to seven

years in prison.

June 20, 2011 - The French foreign ministry announces that it has begun the process of extraditing

Noriega to Panama, with the consent of the United States. He is wanted in Panama on charges he killed

a political rival.

November 23, 2011 - A French appeals court approves Noriega's extradition to Panama to serve out his

sentences for past crimes.

December 11, 2011 - Noriega is extradited to Panama from France.

February 5-9, 2012 - Noriega is hospitalized in Panama City for hypertension and a possible stroke.

May 9, 2012-May 29, 2012 - Noriega is hospitalized in Panama City for bronchitis.