Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was born on February 11, 1938, in Panama City. His father was an accountant and his mother a maid, and he grew up poor until, at the age of five, his parents allowed a school teacher to adopt him. He then attended the National Institute, hoping to become a doctor, but there was still not enough money to support his ambitions, so instead he attended the Peruvian Military Academy. There he gained a degree in engineering before joining the National Guard as a sub-lieutenant.
Noriega was popular in the army, gaining the support of powerful colonel Omar Torrijos early on. Given command of the province of Chiriqui, he was at Torrijos' side in the power struggle which followed the coup against President Arnulfo Arias in 1968, though he always denied involvement in the coup itself. When Torrijos took power he was promoted to head of Military Intelligence. Around this time, he also began covertly working for the CIA. Although Richard Nixon knew he was involved in narcotics trafficking, he found him too useful an asset to dispose of.
In 1981, Torrijos died in a plane crash and was replaced by Rubén Darío Paredes, who made Noriega his chief of staff. Taking advantage of his connections with the U.S. government, for whom he acted as a go-between in negotiations with Fidel Castro, Noriega then promoted himself to general. In 1984 he permitted a presidential election to be held, but there were widespread allegations of fraud after popular candidate Arnulfo Arias lost by a narrow margin. Democratic Revolutionary Party candidate Nicolás Ardito Barletta served under Noriega's direction until the brutal assassination of opposition activist Hugo Spadafora, after which he was persuaded to resign, and Noriega, who had been implicated in the killing, ruled instead through Eric Arturo Delvalle. Popular anger at this turned into the Civic Crusade, a movement whose development Noriega blamed on the U.S. government, with which he was now falling out.
In 1988, the U.S. indicted Noriega on federal drugs charges, and when Delvalle tried to sack him, he ended up being forced out of the country himself. Elections were held the following year, but Noriega declared them void after his candidate lost. His troops beat up Guillermo Endara in the streets after he tried to claim victory. Economic sanctions followed as Noriega declared himself Chief Executive Officer. He held power until 1989, when attacks on U.S. service personnel gave George H W Bush an excuse to launch a military invasion. Fleeing to the Vatican embassy, Noriega held out for several days before eventually surrendering.
In 1992, a Florida court sentenced Noriega to forty years' imprisonment on grounds of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. Having since had that sentence reduced, he is eligible for parole later this year, but is wanted in Panama for murder and in France for money laundering. His wife, Felicidad, also faces criminal charges. The couple have three daughters who have continued to stand by them.
YUDDY
