Today In History

December 20 in History

1989 -The US invades Panama

By Editor_1
-AFP/File

The United States invaded Panama on this day in 1989 in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering US nationals. Noriega’s Panamanian Defence Forces (PDF) were promptly crushed, forcing the dictator to seek asylum with the Vatican anuncio in Panama City, where he surrendered on January 3, 1990.

In 1970, Noriega, a rising figure in the Panamanian military, was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to assist in the US struggle against the spread of communism in Central America. Noriega became involved in drug trafficking and in 1977 was removed from the CIA payroll. After the Marxist Sandinista government came to power in 1979, Noriega was brought back into the CIA fold. In 1983, he became military dictator of Panama.

Noriega supported US initiatives in Central America and in turn was praised by the White House, even though a Senate committee concluded in 1983 that Panama was a major centre for drug trafficking. In 1984, Noriega committed fraud in Panama’s presidential election in favour of Nicolás Ardito Barletta, who became a puppet president. Still, Noriega enjoyed the continued support of the Reagan administration, which valued his aid in its efforts to overthrow Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.

In 1986, just months before the outbreak of the Iran-Contra affair, allegations arose concerning Noriega’s history as a drug trafficker, money launderer, and CIA employee. Most shocking, however, were reports that Noriega had acted as a double agent for Cuba’s intelligence agency and the Sandinistas. The US government disowned Noriega, and in 1988 he was indicted by federal grand juries in Tampa and Miami on drug-smuggling and money-laundering charges.

Tensions between Americans in the Panama Canal Zone and Noriega’s Panamanian Defence Forces grew, and in 1989 the dictator annulled a presidential election that would have made Guillermo Endara president. President George H. Bush ordered additional US troops to the Panama Canal Zone, and on December 16 an off-duty US Marine was shot to death at a PDF roadblock. The next day, President Bush authorized ‘Operation Just Cause’–the US invasion of Panama to overthrow Noriega.

On December 20, 9,000 US troops joined the 12,000 US military personnel already in Panama and were met with scattered resistance from the PDF. By December 24, the PDF was crushed, and the United States held most of the country. Endara was made president by US forces, and he ordered the PDF dissolved. On January 3, Noriega was arrested by US Drug Enforcement Agency agents.

The US invasion of Panama cost the lives of only 23 US soldiers and three US civilians. Some 150 PDF soldiers were killed along with an estimated 500 Panamanian civilians. The Organization of American States and the European Parliament both formally protested the invasion, which they condemned as a flagrant violation of international law.

In 1992, Noriega was found guilty on eight counts of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering, marking the first time in history that a US jury convicted a foreign leader of criminal charges. He was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison, but after extradition to and incarceration in Panama, died in a Panama City hospital on May 29, 2017.

-history.com

 

 

 

 

Editor_1
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