Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
US President Ronald Reagan invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, freez-
ing Panamanian government assets in US banks and prohibiting payments by American busi-
nesses to the Noriega regime.
1989
The US invades Panama, and extradites Noriega to Miami where he is later convicted on
charges of conspiracy and drug trafficking. He is incarcerated until September, 2007.
1994
Ernesto Pérez Balladares is sworn in as president after an internationally monitored election
campaign. Balladares emphasizes his party's populist Torrijos roots rather than its former asso-
ciation with Noriega.
1999
Mireya Moscoso is elected Panama's first female president. The US ends nearly a century of oc-
cupation by closing all of its military bases and turning over control of the canal.
2006
Seventy-eight per cent of Panamanian voters cast a 'yes' ballot in support of an expanded canal
which could double its present capacity; expansion is underway.
2010
After Noriega finishes his US prison sentence, France indicts him on charges of money launder-
ing, but before he can serve his seven-year term, he is extradited by Panama to serve a 20-year
sentence there.
2011
Following a period of economic growth, Panama signed a US-Panama Trade Promotion Agree-
ment into law in October 2011.
