Manuel Noriega

Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (maˈnwel noˈɾjeɣa; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian politician and military officer, and longtime CIA informant. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989, when he was removed from power by the United States during the invasion of Panama.Born in Panama City, Noriega studied at a military school in Lima and at the School of the Americas. He became an officer in the Panamanian army, and rose through the ranks in alliance with Omar Torrijos, becoming chief of military intelligence after Torrijos led a coup in 1968. After Torrijos death in 1981, Noriega consolidated his power until he became the de facto ruler of Panama in 1983. From the 1950s until shortly before the U.S. invasion, Noriega worked closely with the U.S. CIA. Noriega was one of the CIAs most valued intelligence sources, as well as one of the primary conduits for illicit weapons, military equipment and cash destined for U.S.-backed counter-insurgency forces throughout Central and South America. Noriega was also a major cocaine trafficker, something which his U.S. intelligence handlers were aware of for years, but allowed because of his usefulness for their covert military operations in Latin America.Noriegas rule in Panama was marked by repression of the media, an expansion of the military, and the persecution of political opponents. Noriega effectively controlled the outcomes of any elections, and amassed a personal fortune through drug trafficking operations. Noriegas relationship with the U.S. deteriorated as a result of these activities as well as him selling intelligence to opponents of the U.S. In 1988, Noriega was indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges in Miami, Florida. During the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, he was removed from power, captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on eight counts of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering in April 1992. On September 16, 1992, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, which was later reduced to 30 years.Noriegas U.S. prison sentence ended in September 2007; pending the outcome of extradition requests by both Panama and France, for convictions in absentia for murder in 1995 and money laundering in 1999. France was granted its extradition request in April 2010. He arrived in Paris on April 27, 2010, and after the re-trial that is a rule in France after any in absentia sentence, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in jail in July 2010. A conditional release was granted on September 23, 2011, for Noriega to be extradited to serve 20 years in Panama. He returned to Panama on December 11, 2011. Noriega died at Hospital Santo Tomas in Panama City on May 29, 2017, two months after brain surgery.

Bio from Wikipedia - See more on en.wikipedia.org Text under CC-BY-SA license