Manuel Noriega

Noriega, Manuel (1938– ), Panamanian general, leader of Panama 1985–88. He commanded the National Defense Forces to unseat civilian president Nicolas Ardito Barletta (1985). His 1987 indictment in the United States for violations of racketeering and drug laws was controversial; he had been operating with close ties with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under William Casey since the 1970s, supplying them with information on the drug trade and other intelligence. The United States offered to drop charges if Noriega stepped down, but he refused (1988). He eluded capture during the 1989 invasion of Panama, but finally surrendered to the United States and was arraigned on charges of cocaine trafficking. Noriega asked for special protection as a prisoner of war, claiming his arrest was a result of the invasion of Panama. In 1992 he was condemmed for 40 years imprisonment by the federal court of Miami. A year after that he was condemmed for 20 years in Panama because of the murder of opposition leader Spadafora in 1985.

See also: Panama.