Calendar icon
Tuesday 06 January, 2026
Weather icon
á Dakar
Close icon
Se connecter

Before Maduro, there was the capture by the United States of Noriega, the president of Panama

Auteur: AFP

image

Avant Maduro, la capture par les Etats-Unis de Noriega, président du Panama

In 1989, US President George Bush, former director of the CIA, ordered the invasion of Panama to capture the country's strongman, General Manuel Noriega, a former collaborator of the American secret services who was being prosecuted by the American justice system for drug trafficking.

This is the latest US military intervention in Latin America before the capture and exfiltration, on Saturday, of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to Donald Trump, accompanied by strikes targeting in particular the capital Caracas.

In 1989, some 27,000 GIs, including 13,000 stationed in Panama, participated in Operation "Just Cause," which officially resulted in 500 deaths -- but NGOs estimate the number of victims to be in the thousands.

On December 20, American soldiers took control of the streets of the capital. After taking refuge for two weeks in the Vatican embassy, Manuel Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990.

Two years before his capture, Noriega claimed that a price had been put on his head because he refused to cooperate with an American plan to invade Nicaragua.

He will be sentenced by a Florida court to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, a sentence reduced by half for good behavior.

He was detained successively, until his death in 2017, in the United States, France and Panama for drug trafficking, money laundering and enforced disappearances of opponents while he was in power (1983-1989).

Auteur: AFP
Publié le: Dimanche 04 Janvier 2026

Commentaires (0)

Participer à la Discussion

Règles de la communauté :

  • Soyez courtois. Pas de messages agressifs ou insultants.
  • Pas de messages inutiles, répétitifs ou hors-sujet.
  • Pas d'attaques personnelles. Critiquez les idées, pas les personnes.
  • Contenu diffamatoire, vulgaire, violent ou sexuel interdit.
  • Pas de publicité ni de messages entièrement en MAJUSCULES.

💡 Astuce : Utilisez des emojis depuis votre téléphone ou le module emoji ci-dessous. Cliquez sur GIF pour ajouter un GIF animé. Collez un lien X/Twitter ou TikTok pour l'afficher automatiquement.