was suspected of murdering one of his critics, and
the news of this brought the Panamanian public into
the streets to protest his leadership. Despite these ac-
cusations, Noriega remained in the good graces of
the United States until he was finally indicted on
drug charges in 1988.
The Capture and Trial Investigations took place into
Noriega’s activities and his alleged deals with drug
cartels to allow the transportation of cocaine over the
Panamanian border. After enough evidence had
been compiled proving that Noriega was, in fact, in-
volved in the trafficking of millions of dollars worth of
narcotics, the U.S. government called for his resigna-
tion. Noriega fervently refused to comply, and ten-
sions between U.S. troops that were stationed in Pan-
ama and Noriega’s troops intensified.
The United States placed economic sanctions on
Panama, and on December 16, 1989, the situation
reached a climax when a U.S. Marine was shot in an
altercation. President George H. W. Bush responded
by sending American forces to invade Panama and to
depose Noriega. The general managed to avoid cap-
ture by U.S. forces for nearly a month. Surrendering
on January 3, 1990, he was immediately transported
to Miami, Florida, where he would face trial.
General Noriega was tried on eight counts of
drug trafficking, money laundering, and racketeer-
ing. He was found to have been supplying informa-
tion and assistance to drug cartels in the region
while at the same time pledging to help the United
States fight the so-called war on drugs in Panama.
Noriega was ultimately convicted of his crimes and
was sentenced on July 10, 1992, to serve forty years in
a U.S. state penitentiary.
Impact A onetime ally of the U.S. administration,
in particular the CIA, Noriega slowly distanced him-
self from his northern neighbors. His involvement
in the transportation of cocaine across the Panama-
nian border made him a target in the U.S. war on
drugs. His capture and eventual conviction was a
success for the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), which saw his imprisonment as a step toward
severely depleting drug trafficking into the United
States and in helping end the reign of large drug car-
tels with which Noriega had been involved.
Subsequent Events Though Noriega’s capture
did not win the war on drugs for the United States,
it certainly stopped a great deal of the flow of illegal
drugs through Panama. In March, 1999, his forty-
year sentence was reduced to thirty. There have
been repeated attempts by his lawyers to have him
released. However, if released, Noriega may still
serve time for his 1995 convictions of human rights
abuses and murder in Panama. Also, the French
government has attempted to have Noriega extra-
dited so that he may serve time for a 1999 money-
laundering conviction on French soil. In 2004,
Noriega suffered a small stroke and was briefly hos-
pitalized.Further Reading
Behar, David S., and Godfrey Harris.Invasion: The
American Destruction of the Noriega Regime in Pan-
ama. Los Angeles: Americas Group, 1990. De-
scribes the events leading up to the invasion of
Panama by the United States. Behar pays a great
deal of attention to the invasion itself and the
steps that were taken to ultimately bring down
Noriega’s government.
McMillan, Robert R.Global Passage: Transformation
of Panama and the Panama Canal. Charleston,
S.C.: Booksurge, 2006. Focusing on the histori-
cal context of the Panama Canal, this book ex-
plains the effect the creation of the canal has
had on the developing country. The author re-
fers to Noriega throughout the text in relation
to his negotiations about canal expansion and
usage.
Murillo, Luis E.The Noriega Mess: The Drugs, the
Canal, and Why America Invaded. Berkeley, Calif.:
Video-Books, 1995. Murillo investigates the un-
even politics in Panama, the vindictive nature
of Noriega, and the history and circumstances
that allowed the general to rise to power.
The book is a truthful tale of the harsh realities
of Panama and the extenuating circumstances
that led to the U.S. invasion.
Jennifer L. TitanskiSee also Bush, George H. W.; Crime; Foreign pol-
icy of the United States; Latin America.The Nineties in America Noriega capture and trial 617