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When the Bush administration invaded Panama in December 1989, it was quite impossible to conjure up the Evil Empire. ‘Operation Just Cause’ was therefore launched to defend us from narcotraffickers seeking to destroy us, among other pretexts. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy
When the White House decided that its friend Noriega was getting too big for his britches and had to go, the media took their cue and launched a campaign to convert him into the most nefarious demon since Attila the Hun. ibid.
Manuel Noriega had been working happily with US intelligence since the 1950s, right through the tenure of George Bush as CIA director and later Drug Czar for the Reagan administration. ibid.
The United States invaded Panama: the purpose was to kidnap a minor thug who was brought to Florida and sentenced for crimes that he committed for the most part while on the CIA payroll … The invasion killed several thousand poor people. Noam Chomsky, lecture US Terrorism, 5th Annual Edward Said lecture, Columbia University School, Youtube 1.03.46
Stealing Panama from Colombia was also in the highest degree desirable … [by] Teddy Roosevelt whose statue graces Mount Rushmore. Noam Chomsky, lecture MIT December 2009, ‘History of US Rule in Latin America’
In December 1989 when the United States invaded Panama, and that one bombing according to Panamanian sources several thousand people were killed … that was operation Just Cause undertaken by George Bush. Noam Chomsky, lecture Northeastern University April 2002, ‘The Emerging Framework of World Power’, Youtube 1.29.03
The entire world continues in ignorance about how the thousands of victims of the north American invasion of Panama died and what kinds of weapons were used, because the Attorney-General of the country refuses to permit investigation of the bodies buried in the common graves. Vicky Pelaez
They converted Panama into a laboratory of horror. There, they first experimented with methods of economic strangulation; then they successfully used a campaign of disinformation at the international level. But it was the application of the most modern war technology that they demonstrated infernal mastery. Panamanian human rights group, cited Chomsky
Flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. United Nations General Assembly resolution, re US invasion
In December 1989 Bush and his administration launched its invasion of Panama [Operation Just Cause] ... On the CIA payroll since the 1960s – [Manuel] Noriega – assisting the Medellin drug cartel. Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States IX: Bush and Clinton – American Triumphalism - New World Order, Showtime 2012
1989: CIA agent Manuel Noriega (also serving as President of Panama) disobeys orders from Washington. US invades Panama and removes Noriega. 3,000 Panamanian civilian casualties. Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, 2002
Omar Torrijos, President of Panama, was, you know, one of my favourite people. I really really liked him. He was very charismatic. He was the guy who really wanted to try to help his country. And when I tried to bribe him or corrupt him, he said, ‘Look, John’ – he called me Jaunito – he said, ‘Look, Juanito, I don’t need the money. What I really need is for my country to be treated fairly. I need for the United States to repay the debts that you owe my people for all the destruction you’ve done here. I need to be in a position where I can help other Latin American countries, when they are independent, can be free of this terrible presence from the North. You people are exploiting us so badly. I need to have the Panama Canal back in the hands of the Panamanian people; that’s what I want. So leave me alone. Don’t try to bribe me.’ It was 1981, and in May, Jaime Roldos was assassinated, and Omar was very aware of this. Torrijos got his family together and said, ‘I’m probably next, but it is OK because I have done what I came here to do – I’ve renegotiated the canal. The canal will now be in our hands.’ – He’d just finished renegotiating the Treaty with Jimmy Carter. In June of that same year, just a couple of months later, he also went down in an airplane crash, which, there’s no question, was executed by CIA sponsored jackals. A tremendous amount of evidence that one of Terrijos’s security guards handed him at the last moment just as he was getting on the plane a tape-recorder, a small tape-recorder that contained a bomb. John Perkins, author ‘Confessions of an Economic Hitman’, economist Chas T Main Inc
December 20 1989: a foreign army closes in ... Their mission – removed dictator General Noriega from power. Edge of War: Taking Down Noriega, 2012
In the late 1960s Manuel Noriega becomes one the CIA’s most important assets in the region. ibid.
Few Americans questioned the legality of the invasion. ibid.
December 1989: American forces invaded the country of Panama. Operation Just Cause was a quick and overwhelming victory for the United States military. Secrets of War: The Invasion of Panama, Youtube 2015
When George Bush was director of the CIA he met with Noriega in 1976. When he was vice-president he met Noriega again in 1983. ibid.
The prison on Colba Island has since closed but terrified locals and former prisoners have testified that the island remains haunted by ghostly apparitions, strange lights and mysterious noises. Destination Truth s4e10
In 2009 a mysterious creature came out of nowhere and created a massive international buzz ... In the remote Panamanian village of Cerro Azul a group of boys had a terrifying face to face encounter with a slimy hairless beast that emerged from a riverside cave near where they were playing. Destination Truth s4e11, Skyfy 2010
The photos found their way online. ibid.
The Embera [tribe] have told tales of this creature for generations. ibid.
‘The shooting began at midnight and everyone ran towards their homes. People began hollering, children began crying.’ The Panama Deception, woman, 1992
‘If I had to do it again I would do it again. Because the cost was high. I was men, women, civilians and military that gave their lives, not for us, they gave their lives for democracy, for liberty, for freedom. And I don’t mind paying any price under the sun to be free.’ ibid. Guillermo Ford, vice-president of Panama
On December 19th 1989 while the Panamanians were getting ready for the Christmas holidays, the United States were secretly mobilising twenty-six thousand troops for a midnight attack. ibid.
‘The sky was completely red and there was a tremoring you could feel throughout the city.’ ibid. woman
The invasion was swift, intense and merciless … Three days of brutal violence. ibid.
The performance of the mainstream news media in the coverage of Panama has been just about total collaboration with the administration, not a critical murmur, not a critical perspective, not a second thought.’ ibid. Professor Michael Parenti
Waiting in the wings for his chance to take power was Colonel Manuel Noriega, the CIA’s primary contact in Panama … He had been on the CIA payroll since the ’60s. ibid.
Working with the CIA and with Israeli arms dealers Noriega helped co-ordinate an arms supply network to supply weapons to Contra bases in northern Costa Rica. ibid.
It was the first time a foreign head of state had been indicted in the United States. ibid.
‘They [US soldiers] would throw a small device into a house … They would burn a house then move to another … They coordinated the burning through walkie-talkies.’ ibid. victim
The Pentagon used Panama as a testing ground for new developed high-tech weapons such as the Stealth Fighter, the Apache helicopter and laser-guided missiles. ibid.
During the week of the invasion more than 18,000 who fled from the areas of attack were forced into temporary detention centres created by the US forces. ibid.
‘Yes, it’s been worth it.’ ibid. President Bush
In the months following the invasion Panamanians were shocked to discover the existence of mass graves where hundreds perhaps thousands of bodies were hastily dumped into pits and buried by US troops. ibid.
The new government has enjoyed little popular support within Panama. ibid.
‘Today democracy is restored; Panama is free.’ ibid.
December 20th 1989: 27,000 US troops descend on Panama City. It’s the biggest American invasion since the Vietnam War. Ambition, to capture one man, Panama’s military dictator Manuel Noriega. US soldiers scour Panama City hunting Noriega but he’s nowhere to be found. Noriega’s turbulent six-year rule has been marked by violence, deception and excess. Dictators’ Rulebook s1e5: Manuel Noriega, National Geographic 2018
By the mid-1970s Noriega is the most important asset the US has in Central America. But little do they know he’s not just spying on the Cubans in the US, he’s spying on the US and the Cubans. ibid.