Manuel Noriega Biography

Manuel Noriega was a Panamanian military officer and politician. He ruled Panama as military dictator from 1983 till 1989 when he was thrown out of power after the invasion of Panama. He was driven out of power by the American forces. For more than 3 decades before the U. S. invasion, Manuel had worked closely with the Central Intelligence Agency of the USA and he was one of CIA’s most valuable intelligence sources throughout Central and South America. He was, in fact, one of the main channels for supplying and distributing illicit weapons, military equipment and cash to the US-backed counterinsurgency forces throughout Central and South America. He was also a cocaine trafficker and the U.S. intelligence agencies were aware of this but because of his usefulness to their covert military operations in Latin America, they allowed him to do it. He unified the Panamanian armed forces in early eighties and named it the Panamanian Defense Forces. Thereafter, he promoted himself as a general of the defense forces of his country and thus assumed the position of Panama’s de facto leader. He also cancelled Panama’s presidential elections and tried to control the nation through a puppet government. The United States of America invaded Panama after the failure of a military coup against Manuel and the dictator had to eventually surrender in the month of January 1990