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tion in May 1989, the general declared the election null and void. Meanwhile, Guillermo
Endara, the winning candidate, and his two vice-presidential running mates were badly
beaten by some of Noriega's paramilitary Dignity Battalions, and the entire bloody scene
was captured by a TV crew and broadcast internationally. A second failed coup in Octo-
ber 1989 was followed by even more repressive measures.
On December 15, 1989, Noriega's legislature declared him president and his first offi-
cial act of office was to declare war on the US. The following day, an unarmed US mar-
ine dressed in civilian clothes was killed by Panamanian soldiers while exiting a restaur-
ant in Panama City.
US reaction was swift and unrelenting. In the first hour of December 20, 1989,
Panama City was attacked by aircraft, tanks and 26,000 US troops in 'Operation Just
Cause,' though the US media preferred to label it 'Operation Just “cuz.”' Although the
intention of the invasion was to bring Noriega to justice and create a democracy, it left
more than 2000 civilians dead, tens of thousands homeless and destroyed entire tracts of
Panama City.
On Christmas Day, the fifth day of the invasion, Noriega claimed asylum in the Vatic-
an embassy. US forces surrounded the embassy and pressured the Vatican to release him,
as entering the embassy would be considered an act of war against the tiny country.
However, the US memorably used that psychological tactic beloved of disgruntled teen-
agers, namely bombarding the embassy with blaring rock music (Van Halen and Metal-
lica were among the selections). The embassy was also surrounded by mobs of angry
Panamanians calling for the ousting of Noriega.
After 10 days of psychological warfare, the chief of the Vatican embassy persuaded
Noriega to give himself up by threatening to cancel his asylum. Noriega surrendered to
US forces on January 3, and was flown immediately to Miami where he was convicted of
conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine. After his US prison sentence ended in
2007, he was extradited to Paris in April, 2010. A re-trial found Noriega guilty and sen-
tenced him to seven years in prison, but he was conditionally released in order to serve
20 years in Panama, starting in December, 2011, where he is incarcerated today.
The US Army's School of the Americas, previously based in Panama, trained some of
the worst human-rights abusers in Latin America - including Manuel Noriega. For in-
formation on the school's history visit www.soaw.org .
 
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