Noriega now irrelevant, say foes

More than two decades after the US forced him from power, Manuel Noriega returned to Panama as a prisoner and, to many of those he once ruled with impunity, an irrelevant man.

Some Panamanians feel hatred for the former strongman and rejected American ally and a few others nostalgia. But as he returned to his native country last night for the first time since he was ousted, it seemed like few people had any strong feelings at all.

There were no legions of admirers at Panama City’s Tocumen airport when the Iberia airlines flight touched down, delivering him from Paris’ La Sante prison after a stopover in Madrid, Spain. The crowds in the capital were Christmas shoppers.

Noriega, who has served drug sentences in the United States and a money-laundering term in France, was whisked by helicopter to the El Renacer prison to serve three 20-year sentences for the murder of political opponents in the 1980s.

An elevated platform was set up at the prison so journalists could watch him enter, giving Panamanians what was likely their only glimpse of the man who once ran the country like his private fiefdom.

Authorities sowed confusion at the prison by first wheeling in a person thought to be Noriega in a wheelchair, covering him with what appeared to be a coat so his face could not be seen. But then a convoy arrived about half an hour later, triggering speculation that the first person was a decoy.

Roxana Mendez, the interior minister, later told the TVN news channel Noriega was in the second convoy.

“We reiterate that we had to safeguard the physical safety of Noreiga,” she said.

About a dozen protesters, identifying themselves as relatives of army officers shot by Noriega’s forces, gathered at the prison’s main entrance. One held a sign saying “Justice, Noriega, Killer.” Another woman shouted: “Die, you wretch! Now you’re going to pay for your crimes.” It was unlikely the ex-dictator could hear her.

President Ricardo Martinelli said Noriega “should pay for the damage and horror committed against the people of Panama”.

The 77-year-old former general returned to a country much different from the one he left after surrendering to US forces January 3, 1990. The government, once a revolving cast of military strongmen, is now governed by its fourth democratically-elected president.

While some Panamanians are eager to see punishment for the man who stole elections and dispatched squads of thugs to beat opponents to a pulp in the streets, others believe his return means little.

“I don’t think Noriega has anything hugely important to say,” said retired general Ruben Dario Paredes, who headed Panama’s army before Noriega took over in the early 1980s.

“The things he knows about have lost relevance, because the world has changed and the country has as well.”

Things were different in the 1970s and 1980s, when Noriega, whose pockmarked face earned him the nickname “Pineapple Face”, became a valuable ally to the CIA.

At that time, Noriega helped the US combat leftist movements in Latin America by providing information and logistical help, and also acted as a back channel for US communications with unfriendly governments such as Cuba.

But as the Cold War waned, Noriega became a more powerful and unforgiving dictator at home. Tensions developed between the strongman and US officials, who also had been aware for some time that he was also working with the Colombia-based Medellin drug cartel.

On December 20 1989, more than 26,000 US troops began moving into Panama City, clashing with Noriega loyalists in fighting that left sections of the city devastated. Twenty-three US troops, 314 Panamanian soldiers and 200 civilians died in the operation.

The dictator hid in bombed and burned-out neighbourhoods before he sought refuge in the Vatican embassy, which was besieged by US troops playing loud rock music. When he gave up he was flown to Miami, Florida, for trial on drug-related charges.

He was convicted on the US drug trafficking charges two years after the invasion and served 17 years. He received special treatment as a prisoner of war and lived in his own bungalow with a TV and exercise equipment.

When his sentence ended, he was extradited to France, which convicted him for laundering millions of dollars in drug profits through three major French banks and investing drug cash in three luxury Paris apartments.

In Panama, Noriega was sentenced in absentia for the murders of military commander Moises Giroldi, killed after leading a failed 1989 rebellion, and Hugo Spadafora, a political opponent found decapitated on the border with Costa Rica in 1985. He was also convicted in a third case involving the death of troops who aided one of his opponents in a rebellion and could be tried for the deaths of other opponents.