Manuel Noriega returned home to Panama to serve jail time in connection with war crimes. Reuters reports the former dictator of the Central American country will serve a 20-year sentence. He was convicted of murdering political opponents while in power. Noriega's relationship with the U.S. caused an invasion of Panama in 1989.
Here is a look at the life and career of Noriega.
Rise to Power
Noriega rose through the military ranks from a young age, according to the Biography Channel. He was born in 1938 and attended a military school in Peru. He later returned to Panama to serve in the National Guard. He befriended a captain named Omar Torrijos and helped him to overthrow the sitting government. Noriega then helped defeat a coup to overthrow Torrijos and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
At this point in his career, Noriega assisted the administration of President Richard Nixon to secure the release of two American freighter crews in Cuba. Torrijos died in a plane crash in 1981. That left an opening for Noriega to seize power.
Leader of Panama
Noriega unified the National Guard and Panamanian Defense Forces in 1983. He promoted himself to general and seized control of the country. Noriega was the de facto leader of Panama until 1989. He used his positions of authority since the 1970s to traffic drugs into foreign countries such as the U.S.
His numerous run-ins with drug trafficking caught the attention of the United States government. A military operation was authorized to capture Noriega in 1989.
Capture and Trial
Operation Just Cause was a military operation by U.S. forces started Dec. 20, 1989. In the predawn hours, the U.S. Army overwhelmed the Panamanian Defense Forces with a force of 26,000 people. Special Forces, armored units and helicopters targeted two-dozen sites in Panama. Noriega surrendered Jan. 3, 1990. Troops left the country nine days later.
Noriega was put on trial in the U.S. He was sentenced in July 1992 and was scheduled to spend 40 years in jail. CNN reported the former leader got his sentenced lowered to 20 years and was extradited to France in 2010. The orders were signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. France wanted to try Noriega on money laundering and he was convicted in absentia in 1999.
Current Status
Panama convicted Noriega on the murders of two political rivals in 1985 and 1989. Panamanian courts also want to try Noriega on 15 other counts. He is 77 and was flown by a commercial flight from France to Panama. He awaits decades in prison there that will he will likely serve for the rest of his life. In addition to serving time in prison, Noriega will face other chargers of political murder that are as of yet unsolved.
William Browning is a research librarian.
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