LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Manuel Noriega: General Manuel Noriega
built 236 days ago
A Creole born of humble origins in Panama City, Manuel Noriega was an opportunist who joined Panama's National Guard in 1962. As a protégé of Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos, Noriega took classes at the U.S. Army School of the Americas in the Canal Zone. In August 1970, he became commander of G2, the Guard's intelligence branch. G2 maintained close ties with U.S. Army Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Soon after Torrijos's death in 1981, General Noriega became the most powerful man in Panama.
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In June, 1986, the New York Times published articles detailing years of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's collaboration with Colombian drug traffickers. Reporter Seymour Hersh wrote that Noriega "is extensively involved in illicit money laundering and drug activities," and that an unnamed White House official "said the most significant drug running in Panama was being directed by General Noriega." In August, Noriega, a long-standing U.S. intelligence asset, sent an emissary to Washington to seek assistance from the Reagan administration in rehabilitating his drug-stained reputation.
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Noriega enhanced his position as de facto ruler in August 1983 by promoting himself to full general. Noriega, being paid by the CIA, extended new rights to the United States, and despite the canal treaties allowed the U.S. to set up listening posts in Panama. He aided the American-backed terrorists in El Salvador and Nicaragua by acting as a conduit for U.S. money, and according to some accounts, weapons. However, Noriega insists that his policy during this period was essentially neutral, allowing partisans on both sides of the various conflicts free movement in Panama, as long as they did not attempt to use Panama as a base of military operations. He rebuffed requests by Salvadoran rightist Roberto D'Aubuisson to restrict the movements of leaders of the leftist Salvadoran insurgent Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in Panama, and likewise rebuffed demands by U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North that he provide military assistance to the Nicaraguan Contras. Noriega insists that his refusal to meet North's demands was the actual basis for the U.S. campaign to oust him.
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Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (born February 11, 1934[1]) was a Panamanian general and the de facto military dictator of Panama from 1983[2] to 1989, despite never being the official President of Panama. He was initially a strong ally of the United States and worked with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the late 1950s to the 1980s... the relationship had not become contractual until 1967.[3] By the late 1980s, relations had turned extremely tense between Noriega and the United States government, and in 1989 the general was overthrown and captured in the United States invasion of Panama. He was detained as a prisoner of war, and taken to the United States, and convicted under federal charges of cocaine trafficking, racketeering and money laundering.
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Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was born on 11 February 1934 in Panama City. Noriega is most famous for being a Panamanian general and dictator. He ruled over Panama from 1983 until 1989. However, he was never the official president of the country. Instead, he asserted an iron grip as the country’s de facto military head.
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Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (born February 11, 1938) was a Panamanian general and the de facto military leader of Panama from 1983 to 1989. Contrary to several sources, Noriega was never President of Panama.
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General Manuel Noriega