LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Manuel Noriega: Panamanian Government
built 192 days ago
For most of his life, Manuel Noriega got along very well with the CIA. As far back as 1959, he was reporting on Panamanian leftists to the Americans; by 1966, he was on the CIA payroll. Despite-or maybe because of-Noriega's "perverse" treatment of prisoners, he was deemed worthy to be trained at the notorious School of the Americas (... known as the "School of Dictators" or the "School of Assassins" ), run by the US Army in Panama City (it's since moved to Ft. Benning, Georgia).
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The sanctions did in fact succeed in damaging Panama's economy; Noriega failed to meet his financial obligations to the PDF and government workers. Reagan's new National Security Adviser Colin Powell said that the sanctions were having a "telling effect."(49) Elliot Abrams declared that Noriega was "clinging to power by his fingertips."(50) But the pressure was not strong enough to bring Noriega down. The Treasury Department made too many exceptions to the sanctions, which helped mostly Noriega and his supporters. Thus, "the sanctions were the economic equivalent of the neutron bomb: they destroyed the economy but left the leader standing."(51) Once again, the United States underestimated Noriega's remarkable survival power.
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Torrijos was succeeded by Colonel Florencio Flores Aguilar, one year later he was succeeded by Rubén DarÃo Paredes, while Noriega became Chief of Staff. Paredes resigned to run for the presidency, ceding his post as commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces (as the Guard had been renamed) to Noriega. The two men had a deal in which Paredes would run as the Democratic Revolutionary Party's candidate for president. However, Noriega reneged on the deal.
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Some Noriegistas, as his former cronies are called, hold positions in the government, which is controlled by the same Democratic Revolutionary Party that Noriega used to run. One of them, Benjamin Colamarco, who used to run the Dignity Battalions, the paramilitary outfit that cracked down on dissenters, is now the minister of public works.
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Noriega was the commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces until he was overthrown during an invasion by US troops in 1989. He was then sentenced to 40 years in prison, but will be released on September 9 for good behavior.
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Reagan and Bush held different opinions about Noriega. One of Bush's main themes in the 1988 presidential campaign was the War against Drugs. Bush, therefore, strongly opposed a deal with Noriega that would result in dropping the charges against him. Thus, Bush ruled out the deal favored by Reagan. Compared to Reagan, Bush's leadership image was much weaker, and he was more vulnerable to Noriega's provocations. On the other hand, with the changes in the makeup of his cabinet, Bush had the opportunity to impose one clear strategy on the various branches of his government.
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