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the bustling international transport hub located on the outskirts of Panama City. A jet comes into land. After rolling to a halt, the doors open. Flanked by Secret Service personnel out steps US Vice President George H.W. Bush. They're just here to refuel, en route from Argentina to El Salvador. But while Air Force Two sits on the tarmac, Bush wants to make the most of his time.
he summoned Panama's leadership to a meeting in one of the airport's plush private lounges. Bush is the head of President Reagan's Drugs Task Force. He knows Panama City is a major transit point for some of the most notorious traffickers in the world: Papo Escobar's Medellin Cartel. As he sinks into a low velvet sofa, the Vice President delivers an impassioned tirade. He exhorts the Panamanians to do more to stop the evils of the drug trade.
Representing Panama at the meeting is the country's president, Ricardo de la Espriella. Officially, at least. Unofficially, Bush knows Espriella is little more than a puppet. Also present in his crisp army uniform is General Manuel Noriega. On paper, he's the head of the Panama Defense Forces. In reality, he is the power behind the throne. And he's also, as Bush knows well enough, up to his neck in narcotics.
Just the previous year, Noriega struck a deal with the Medellin leadership. In exchange for allowing their product to pass through Tokimane Airport, he would personally receive $1,000 per kilo of cocaine that reached the United States. This is according to testimony given at Noriega's trial some years later. In the context of the American war on drugs, he ought to be public enemy number one. But where Noriega is concerned, Bush is compromised.
Because the Panamanian strongman is also a paid CIA asset. The last time the two men met, at an embassy in Washington, it was on intelligence business. Then Bush was the head of the CIA. Noriega was in charge of G2, Panama's secret service. Bush knows exactly the kind of man he's dealing with. The General might not be his favorite international colleague, but he remains a valuable source of intel, for now at least. Because Bush isn't done with Noriega.
In fact, their relationship is about to get a lot more complicated. And almost five years to the day after their meeting at Tokyumen Airport, it will be President who gives the order to bring Noriega down. From Noisa, this is part two of the Noriega story. And this is Real Dictators. After the sudden death of his mentor, Omar Torrijos, in a suspiciously timed accident, Noriega has finagled his way to the top.
But his six-year rule of Panama from 1983 to 1989 will prove trickier than he expects. The ruthlessly competent intelligence chief will turn out to be less skillful at politics. His reign will be rocked by economic disaster, assassination attempts, and an increasingly powerful opposition movement. Professor Robert C. Harding
For the vast majority of Padmanians, Noriega's rise to power was one of uncertainty at best and dread at worst. I would call him a prototypical Machiavellian dictator. Even though I don't believe he thought as philosophically as this, I think that he did follow Machiavelli's dictum of it's better to be feared than to be loved if you cannot have both.
So that made him very much a tragic figure, almost a Greek tragic figure, where hubris was the key to his downfall. Professor Michael Conniff. He was not the ostentatious fellow in the newsreels. He didn't pose for the cameras and he didn't give newspaper interviews. He was not an in-your-face dictator the way Mussolini was or some of the Brazilian dictators were.
He was more behind the scenes dictator. He liked to kick ass out of the public eye, unlike many other dictators who like to strut and show off their authority. Professor Margaret Scranton. Noriega wrote a pamphlet on how to manipulate people. I was interviewing two US military officers
And we were talking about Noriega and one pulled the pamphlet out of his desk and said, look, this is what Noriega wrote. And what it contains is an analysis of Valentine's Day. It's not a real thing. But yet, what do people do in the week prior? They buy things, they celebrate. And so it's this created ritual. It's this created behavior. You can get people to do things they might not otherwise do.
That's probably a lifelong preoccupation that only got stronger the more intelligence he had. So part of being able to get people to do what you want to do is to know what they're thinking and what they're doing. To have a really fine sense, a granular sense of the landscape. After more than a decade as Panama's intelligence chief, Noriega has grown comfortable operating in the shadows. And even now, as the country's de facto leader, he rules more as a spy than as a general.
Throughout the 1980s, he never assumes the role of president, always preferring to have a civilian fronting for him. Panamanians are under no illusions, though. They know who's in charge. If he were out front, the spotlight would be on him very brightly. And so not being in the front of the camera, so to speak, allowed him to have more opportunities that would not be available otherwise.
I don't think he had any ambitions to ever be a figurehead, you know, have a bus made of him in Panama City. As long as the money, the booze, and the women kept flowing in, he was a happy man. Compared to his predecessor, the popular and charismatic Omar Torrijos, Noriega's regime soon begins to look increasingly dictatorial.
Panama may have a legislative assembly, but Noriega makes it clear he has little patience for any kind of democracy. He simply told the legislative assembly what he wanted, what laws and rules he wanted. He really had no patience for ordinary governance or consultation or any of the niceties of ordinary government. In 1983, with the blessing of his handlers at the Pentagon, Noriega overhauls the Panamanian military.
The relatively toothless National Guard is replaced by the much more deadly Panama Defense Forces, the PDF. Next, he coerces Parliament to pass Law 20, which brings almost every government agency under PDF control. Whereas Torrijos at least gave the impression that he was distributing power and ultimately was going to give it up himself, Noriega took the exact opposite approach to consolidate his power
When he was challenged, his response was much like a cornered animal. He would strike out. For example, when large-scale labor strikes ultimately broke out, he literally shut down not just them, but the country.
He declared a state of emergency. A state of emergency suspends the writ of habeas corpus. It allowed his force, the PDF, the military, to arrest anybody who even looked the wrong way at Noriega and to destroy property and to shut down all independent media.
He created a extra legal group that were called the Dignity Battalions. These Dignity Battalions were essentially hired thugs who would go to, for example, businesses. One classic example is they went to the offices of the main newspaper at the time, La Prensa, and roughed up the staff.
destroyed property because the La Prensa had published something that Noriega didn't like. La Prensa was censored. He actually took over La Estrella, the newspaper. He sent people into exile, jailed people. Noriega was very definitely a dictator in the worst sense, as opposed to, looking back on the reals, he looked pretty good in hindsight. While Noriega's personal wealth and power grow,
The people of Panama are struggling. Martha Duncan grew up in the US-controlled Panama Canal Zone. When she returns home after a period in the United States, she's shocked by how much has changed.
To some extent, Noriega is playing an impossible hand.
Omar Torrijos died a national hero, having persuaded the US to begin a gradual handover of the country's most lucrative asset, the Panama Canal. But with Torrijos now out of the picture, it's Noriega who actually has to make it work. "Noriega is stuck with the very difficult job of carrying out Plan Torrijos.
And so by this point, disillusionment with the economic benefit of the canal is setting in. And so the institution that delivered the treaties is now not able to deliver the economic paradise that was hoped for. And for reasons well beyond the military's control, there's a huge economic challenge. Noriega biographer
Angel Ricardo Martinez Benoit. I don't think spies make good leaders. I think Noriega was a very good spy, a very good intelligence officer, and he was good at manipulating, getting what he wanted. But when it came to lead a country as complex as Panama, in that context, it was too much. Noriega doesn't exactly make life easy for himself. Running one country while spying for another would be more than enough for most people.
But for him, it's just the tip of the iceberg. He can't resist trying to turn every possible situation to his advantage. He could help the cartels move product through Panama. He could help Fidel Castro know what the United States was up to. He ran drugs, ran arms. He brokered intelligence with people, some of whom were enemies of the United States. He was open to dealing with anyone and everyone.
I don't think we can argue he was an operative of the Cubans, but he certainly took payments from the Cubans for information. But then he would flip-flop, he would go back and forth between these two sides in the Cold War. Without a doubt, it's a risky approach to foreign policy. One wrong move and Noriega could lose everything. As far as the Americans are concerned though, Noriega is their man in Central America. Not only is he personally cashing hefty paychecks from the CIA,
The PDF is also being bankrolled by the Pentagon. In 1984, the Reagan administration looks the other way as Noriega blatantly rigs the country's first general election in over a decade. The same election, incidentally, at which Tarikos had been planning to stand down.
Now, rigging the elections in Panama of this time is not that difficult. What they would do when it looked like the elections were going to turn the wrong way, he simply collected ballot boxes. He declared that foreign powers were interfering with the election. You know, I'm not doing this, somebody else is doing it, and I'm saving you. With the voting stopped early, a tribunal hands the presidency to Noriega's preferred candidate, Ardito Barletta.
Noriega successfully rubber-stamped his regime, but his triumph will prove short-lived.
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It's been more than two decades since Noriega started working with the CIA, and throughout that time, it's always been mutually beneficial. Now though, their beautiful friendship is coming under strain. The cause? Political development 600 miles away, in Nicaragua. Ever since the Sandinista Revolution of 1979, the White House has taken a close interest in this large Central American country.
The United States has been supplying the opposition Contras with both money and training in an attempt to bring down the left-wing Sandinista regime. But in 1982, the US Congress passed the first Boland Amendment. This prohibits the federal government from providing military support for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Nicaragua. Direct funding of the Contras has been taken off the table.
When Congress prohibits official funding for the contrast, they have to figure out how to keep funding them. And Bill Casey, the head of the CIA, he just took the war secret.
the reagan administration as we now know was doing lots of underhanded things to promote the fight against the sandinistas in that blow up that would become known as iran contra and so the fact that the united states was selling weapons to its arch enemy iran in order to get money to fund the contrast it was not that big of a deal to keep funding a drug running
fellow in Panama so long as he was supporting their goals. And he was because he was allowing weapons to flow, drugs to flow that we now know the CIA was selling in Central America in order to help fund this. All these cocaine flights that were happening were happening at least with knowledge from the CIA, sometimes sponsored by the CIA, because the money from those drugs was for the contrasts.
In June 1985, Noriega attends another meeting with the Americans. This time the rendezvous point is a yacht moored in Balboa Harbor at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. His contact is Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. He is the man who will very publicly take the fall for Iran-Contra when the scandal explodes 18 months later. Once again, the details of the meeting remain murky. What exactly does North ask for?
And how much does Noriega agree to help? We can't be sure, but five months later, Noriega is at CIA headquarters in Langley, meeting with the agency's director, William Casey. - That's when you start thinking, well, then what role did Noriega play? Because he was very close with Casey, like really close. The most important question of Noriega's life is did he collaborate with the American effort to support the Contras or not?
Years after he ran Contra, Angel Ricardo Martinez Benoit visits Noriega in prison. He hears Noriega's account straight from the horse's mouth. The dictator's own version of events is as follows: They were trying to get Noriega to approve the training of Salvadoran dead squads and Contras and all that in Panama in the School of the Americas. You know, they had the Americans on all these bases. And he told me that he always said no. According to the memoir he writes behind bars,
Noriega takes a position of principle when it comes to the Contras and the Americans punish him for it. That is why the relationship with the Americans starts souring so much because the Americans start asking things from Noriega that he's just not willing to give them anymore. Not everyone though is convinced by the dictator's supposed fit of conscience. Well, to put it very simply, the idea of morals was completely divorced from this man. But morals aside...
Noriega does have sound, pragmatic reasons to push back against American demands, especially when the requests that the US make of him go up a level. The final ask was that Panama mine Nicaragua's harbors. That is an act of war.
"Yeah, I'll let some contra training happen here. I'll let some arms and stuff happen here, but I will not use the PDF in an act of war against a neighbor." In Noriega's mind, that was a big red line. Noriega's full role in the whole contra scandal and his motives in pushing back against Washington remain hard to discern. But two things seem to be beyond doubt.
As Reagan's desire to remove the Sandinistas from power grows, so too does the pressure on Noriega. And that pressure puts a new strain on the dictator's relationship with Washington. In the summer of 1985, a high-profile target puts himself in the dictator's crosshairs. His name is Hugo Spadafora, and like Noriega, he's a former protege of Omar Torrijos. In fact, Spadafora is very much cast in the Torrijos mold.
Having served as a combat medic with guerrillas in West Africa and Nicaragua, he's a war hero. And with his dark hair and deep soulful eyes, he has the looks to match. Noriega, still pockmarked with acne scars from his teenage years, is overheard to comment bitterly, "I want his face." Right now though, it's Spadafora's head Noriega is after, quite literally. From his home in nearby Costa Rica, Spadafora is making worrying noises.
a former official in the Torrijos government. When Spadafora learned about Noriega's own involvement in drug trafficking, he became disillusioned with that as well. And so he publicly denounced Noriega and planned to return to Panama to lead a protest against him.
On the morning of September 13th, 1985, Spadafora eats breakfast, does some yoga, and then sets off in the direction of Panama. By lunchtime, he's reached Paso Canoa, aboard a village that's a hotspot for smugglers. Here he climbs aboard a Toyota minibus with a two-hour journey to David, the capital of Chiriqui province in Panama. There he should be able to board a second bus to Panama City. But Spadafora never even makes it as far as David.
When he crosses into Panama, Noriega's goons are ready for him. The bus pulls up in the small town of La Concepcion. Spadafore is led away by two PDF sergeants. They march him three blocks to the local PDF headquarters and they throw him in a cell. But the next question is what are they going to do with him?
Spadafore's fate was spelled out in a phone call that actually the United States National Security Agency had intercepted between the G2 members and Noriega. When the provincial commander asked Noriega what should we do with him, he used code.
He said, "Okay, we have a rabid dog. What do we do with him?" And Noriega rhetorically responded, "Well, what does one do with a dog that has rabies?" Obviously, that implied that they were to kill him. A rabid dog might at least expect a bullet to the head, but Spadafora isn't so lucky. Instead, over the next seven hours, he's subjected to unimaginable torture. His body is discovered three days later.
It's been wrapped in a US mailbag and dumped in a ravine just across the border in Costa Rica. Spadafora's head is never found. In the past, Noriega has always been able to eliminate opponents with impunity, but the sheer inhumanity of Spadafora's murder shocks Panamanians into action.
It led protests, led to denunciations, a series of huge disruptions in government. And of course, it partly led to U.S. sanctions against Panama. They destitute the country. GDP dropped like 15%. So people were unemployed, businesses went bankrupt, CEOs had to leave the country for their own safety. So this Final Four murder was really a turning point. Noriega, meanwhile, doubles down.
Panama's puppet president, Ardito Barletta, promises the Spadafora family that his murder will be investigated. The general responds by having the president deposed within a fortnight. Barletta learns the details of his supposed resignation from the TV news. Spadafora certainly isn't the first man to pay the price for crossing Noriega, nor is he the last. The following year, the body of a prominent Panamanian businessman, Serafin Mitrotti, is discovered on a beach.
Despite clear signs of torture, a smashed nose, cuts on the elbows, arms, neck and wrists, the death is officially registered as suicide. Mitrotti had recently been elected president of the Committee for the Redemption of Moral Values, which opposes PDF interference in the business sector. Meanwhile, pilot Cesar Rodriguez is found dead near the Colombian city of Medellin, homes of the notorious cartel.
The former drug runner had been boasting in public that he had enough dirt on Noriega to send him to jail. Challenging Noriega is a dangerous business, but one man who appears to have no fear is the general's own second-in-command, Roberto Diaz Herrera.
Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera, who was a cousin of Omar Torrijos, he had originally been designated as a successor to Noriega as the PDF commander. But Noriega reneged on that agreement and said, well, no, I'm going to stick around a little bit longer. Well, Diaz Herrera publicly accused Noriega first of rigging the 1984 elections, which, of course, he had done.
But also he went further and claimed that Noriega had a role in planning Torrijos' untimely death in that plane crash. And also he tried to implicate Noriega in the murder of Hugo Spadafora. That starts another wave of protests, which culminates in something called the National Civic Crusade, the NCC.
They promoted large-scale labor strikes, shut down Panama for weeks at a time. Noriega's intelligence network, which had been able to hobble some of the protests before they occurred earlier on, eventually lost control because this was just too widespread.
I remember the protests. I remember going out of my house with my mom and some other people. I remember my mom had a white flag on her car. It was a symbol of the Cruzada Civilista. It was popular in Panama back then to bang on the pots, you know? So people would come out of their houses to bang on the pots. Outside Panama too, Noriega's crimes are beginning to catch up with him.
On June 26, 1987 in Washington DC, the US Senate passes a resolution demanding that Herrera's allegations be investigated. Noriega, whose understanding of the separation of powers is sketchy at best, sees this as an act of betrayal.
One of the big mistakes that he made was not understanding how the US works, thinking that because he was very well regarded at the security or intelligence level, he thought he could not care so much about actual politics. I just think that he actually thought that if you were on the good side of the deep state, the CIA and defense and all that, you weren't touchable. And it turns out you weren't.
And I think that misreading of the American political system costed him dearly." Furious at this perceived slight, Noriega takes his anger out on the US Embassy in Panama City. Here, several hundred government employees stage a protest. "Yankees go home," they chant angrily at the terrified men and women inside the building. By the time the protesters leave, the white stucco facade is splattered with paint, and several windows have been smashed with rocks.
The US State Department sends Noriega a bill for the damage. The General doesn't even bother to challenge it. He nonchalantly hands over the sum they've asked for, a paltry $106,000 to a man as rich as he is. This is small fry. More concerning to Noriega is an article that runs in the Wall Street Journal the following month. In the words of the respected journalist Bob Greenberger,
Panama's corrupt military dictator, General Manuel Antonio Noriega, appears to be nearing the end of his days in power. Once again, Noriega takes this as a personal slight from the White House. After all, what kind of president allows the press to choose what they publish? As a former spy chief, Noriega has burned plenty of assets, but he's never been on the receiving end before. Not long ago, he was the CIA's most valuable source of intel in Central America.
Now, with the Cold War winding down, with Gorbachev on the airwaves in the States, Noriega's stock is falling fast. It's a case of right place, wrong time. In the age of Glasnost and Perestroika, the Americans are turning against a new enemy, drugs. Drugs go from almost an afterthought in American society and government discourse to the main problem during the 80s.
Noriega is just like in the middle of the perfect storm. Communism is dead. How are all these agencies going to justify their existence and their budgets? You needed a new boogeyman. The rest is history. Six months later comes the biggest blow yet. A court in Miami formally sets out criminal charges against Noriega. He's indicted on 13 counts of drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering.
The maximum sentence, if he's found guilty, is 145 years in prison. That's assuming Americans ever get their hands on him. The decision to bring him up on charges was, without a doubt, it was a political one. He had been involved in drug trafficking both for the CIA's purposes as well as his own enrichment for quite some time, for decades in fact. The dirt was already there. Clearly, drug business was not his worst offense.
The drug accusations and indictments were just a cover really for these far more serious sins that he had committed. To Noriega, it seems like all his American friends have turned their backs on him. In fact, the situation behind the scenes is more complex.
The United States at that time is sending mixed signals because Noriega still has his friends in intelligence and in parts of the military. You have the CIA sort of for him, the DEA really against him. You've got the FBI. You've got the State Department. The indictment gets built without the DEA and the CIA knowing because the reality of anti-narcotics is
is that it gets very murky at the operational level. And all these things are happening in a secret war waged by the CIA without Congress knowing. And Noriega is in the middle of it, either collaborating or not. U.S. policy on the drug war plays a huge role because then the whole administration has got to confront and explain
Why did you look the other way so long? In fact, why was our policy toward Panama a drug promotion policy and a drug transportation policy and a drug protection policy? So that makes it hard for the CIA and the military to say he's still worth it. Politically, Noriega has become a hot potato served with the generous helping of radioactive source
No one can afford to be seen to support him. And so a new phase of public relations begins. It was in the interest of a lot of people to make him look like he was just this corrupt drug trafficker. The truth is that in this context of the contrast, drug money financing the contrast and the CIA pretty much sponsoring it, where do you draw the line between you're benefiting from drug trafficking for your benefit or you're doing it
as an orchestrated operation, which is also illegal because the American Congress is against it. So it's a very fine line and I think we might never know. By now the consensus in Washington is that Noriega's days are numbered. The bigger question is how exactly to get him out of the door. Some favor a diplomatic solution. In fact, overtures have already been made.
The United States had been trying to find a way to get him out of power and move him to somewhere where he could retire and live off the millions that we were going to give him. But by 1988, one man in particular needs to distance himself from Noriega, presidential candidate George H.W. Bush. Bush is personally vulnerable to the vicissitudes of public opinion, given his own background in intelligence. He and Noriega have come across each other before.
Bush has to become his own man, let's say, as a candidate. And Noriega was negotiated. And this is like a big deal. Like, Bush has to take the distance from that. And then he says, if I win, I'm not going to negotiate with drug traffickers and dictators and blah, blah, blah. In November 1988, Vice President Bush scores the mother of all promotions.
An aggressive election campaign sees him storm the Electoral College, and he wins a record-breaking 53.4% share of the popular vote as well. By January, he's settling into his new chair in the Oval Office. But Noriega has his eyes on another election. In May 1989, Panama goes to the polls again, and the result is a bloody, humiliating farce.
But unlike most of Noriega's shady shenanigans, this one happens in full view of the whole world. The Carter Center, the UN, and the international press all have their eyes on the '89 election.
Noriega was trying to, again, put up a candidate who would be a puppet president. But when he finally found out that the exit polls demonstrated that the opposition was going to win by over a two to one ratio, Noriega was dumbfounded, without a doubt. When the votes started coming in in favor of the opposition,
And it looked like there was no way that Noriega could rework the books. He simply canceled the election. International observers went in there to try to say, wait a minute, this is a fair election. This is an election that had no irregularities. Noriega wasn't having any of it.
Jimmy Carter, as well as Gerald Ford, two former American presidents, actually went down as part of the observation group. And Jimmy Carter actually went and spoke to a number of these election officials and said to them in his very Georgia-accented Spanish, are you thieves? Are you going to take this away? But
In the end, none of this really mattered. And the next day, Noriega's coalition published a news story that proclaimed that their candidate had won fair and square, even though he had really lost by 73 to 26 percent. The emperors definitely did not have any clothes by this time. And so the streets of Panama City erupted in protest against this fake election.
When some of the opposition candidates dared to even show up at these protests, they themselves were actually beaten and arrested in front of cameras on live international television.
And the bloody beating, in particular of Guillermo Ford, the vice presidential candidate, was captured live and really just galvanized, I think, not just Panamanians, but also became one of the last straws for the United States.
PDF and paramilitary units were called out by Noriega, and they responded with vicious abandon, beating people, shooting rubber bullets at people, and in some cases actually shooting live ammunition. If there had been any chance for Noriega to find a way to reconcile, that was the moment when there was no turning back. Within Panama, Noriega's popularity is at an all-time low.
Even within the higher echelons of the PDF, there are those who are convinced his time is up. But it's one thing murmuring behind closed doors, quite another to take your own life in your hands by openly challenging a dictator. Eighteen months earlier, Noriega learned of the first plot to overthrow him. The chief of police, Leonhard Macias, had persuaded a couple of dozen officers to help him arrest the general. But when they arrived at the Comandancia,
The men walked right into a trap. They were ushered into a room with heavy vault-like doors, which were promptly locked behind them. The coup was put down without bloodshed. In the aftermath, Noriega began a purge of the PDF ranks. Loyalists were promoted, while anyone carrying even a hint of suspicion was dismissed. Then, if the rumors are to be believed, he gathered his general staff together for a chilling display of power. He demanded a live chicken be brought to him,
He then ripped off its head with his bare hands. The bizarre ritual helped stave off dissent for the next year or so. Noriega, it seems, has become interested in Santeria, the local branch of voodoo. Though whether he actually believes in supernatural powers remains a matter of conjecture. It's said that the General likes to visit a local residence that has a particular paranormal allure. There was one home in particular that was known as the Witch's House.
He felt that the witches would empower him, make him stronger, make him undefeated. So he would frequent the place quite a bit. I think I would put the voodoo stuff in the category of interests because of the power, the belief in the healer. So it's a psychological tool. How can you get people on your side? How can you get people to do what you want them to do?
Magic or not, it's only a matter of time before another of Noriega's men tries to topple him. This time it's his head of palace security, Major Moises Giroldi. By most standards, Giroldi is a loyalist. He owes his current position to his role in thwarting the previous coup attempt, and he and Noriega are close. The general is godfather to one of his children, but even Giroldi has his limits. At a party held to celebrate the baptism of Noriega's granddaughter,
he is given an unconscionable order. Blind, drunk and swearing, Noriega instructs him to begin shooting down US aircraft on sight. If the Major complies, he will be committing a suicidal act of war. Instead, he decides that Noriega has to go.
So a well-planned coup attempt was launched against Noriega and tipped off by Geralde's wife, the United States military actually blocked off a number of key roads in order to try to prevent loyal PDF soldiers from rushing in and helping Noriega. A firefight ensues in the corridors of the Comandancia, but before long Noriega's men are out of ammunition and the general is forced to surrender.
For a moment, it seems like his time is up. Girardi was able to hold Noriega for a number of hours and during that time tried to convince Noriega to step down, however, unsuccessfully. To hear Noriega tell his story, he fears for his life. You know, what am I going to do? They're probably going to kill me. And even if they don't, I'm done for.
And then he kind of comes to himself and says, I'm going to brazen my way out of this. I'm the commander. And so he puts on the command presence. What were you thinking? You thought the United States was going to help you out here? They're not. They're sitting there and my reinforcements are coming.
Guiraldi said, "Well, I'm just going to turn you over to the US military and they can do what they want with you." But ultimately, the United States refused to accept Noriega. We don't know why exactly. And then during all of this confusing time, finally some loyal PDF forces were able to parachute in to bypass the US military and they were able to rescue Noriega.
Ultimately, what happens is Giralde and some of his fellow conspirators who had held Noriega were brutally tortured and murdered by Noriega's henchmen. The latest attempt to remove Panama's dictator has ended in abject failure. If diplomacy had a chance, we botched it. If the coups had a chance, they botched it. And Noriega just surged up and took control. For President Bush, there are awkward questions to answer.
After all, the Americans were evidently willing to play a limited role in the coup attempt, blocking the roads to delay Noriega's reinforcements. If they'd only gone a little bit further, they could have made sure it succeeded. There were rumors that this was some sort of American operation, Bush declares on the TV show Nightline. I can tell you, that is not true. Giroldi's widow, meanwhile, issues a public statement. From the safety of a U.S. Army base in the Canal Zone…
She calls for Noriega's head. "I ask the next officer who tries that you not allow him to live," she says. "Kill him instantly, as only the mafiosos and the narcotics traffickers know how." At a White House press conference, Bush continues to field probing questions. "Is it responsible," asks one journalist, "to call publicly for Noriega's ousting, but then to do nothing?" Another reporter demands,
Will you talk to Mrs. Giroldi? Bush suffers from something that has been called the "wimp factor." For a lot of reasons, there was a lot of bad media coverage about him saying that he was a weak president, blah, blah, blah. Bush really began to suffer with the effects of that, opinion effects. He simply couldn't stand up to the new government. So people were beginning to think that Bush was beginning his presidency as a weakling.
The frustration factor on both sides caused both Bush and Noriega to miscalculate. The things we tried to do were not executed in the best possible way. A situation that seemed so out of control that there has to be a military action.
The final straw was in December 1989, Noriega very famously rattles his saber he's got and says, "A state of war exists between the United States and Panama." Well, you know, the United States has not declared war since World War II. But to have another country say a state of war exists, this was the last straw.
He crossed the line that a Panamanian should never cross, which is poking the bear so much that you actually get attacked by it. And a few days later, the United States institutes the invasion of Panama. In the next episode, the Americans go all in, deploying stealth bombers, helicopters, and tens of thousands of troops to Panama. Meanwhile, an elaborate plot is set in motion to penetrate the dictator's inner circle.
as a U.S. operative befriends Noriega's mistress. Will the mission succeed, or will Noriega slip away back into the shadows? That's next time in the final part of the Noriega story.