Word: coupes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...continuing street protests, the strongman faced a revolt by some officers of the once unswervingly loyal Panamanian Defense Forces. The rebellion erupted shortly after dawn last Wednesday: residents living near Noriega's Panama City headquarters heard the crack of gunfire from inside the iron-gated compound. Reports of a coup quickly swept the capital. The rumors grew until 9:30 a.m., when Noriega appeared at a window and waved. Wearing a white guayabera sport shirt, the general later ventured out of the building to talk with reporters. Asked what the gunfire had been about, he pressed his fingers...
Even as he publicly shrugged off the coup attempt, Noriega was negotiating with the U.S. State Department and domestic opposition leaders for a deal that would allow him to step down with some assurances of safety. William Walker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central America, flew to Panama City with Deputy Legal Adviser Michael Kozak. After a promising start, the talks stalled when the emissaries refused to guarantee that President Reagan would sign an Executive Order quashing drug-trafficking indictments that two grand juries brought against Noriega last month. In Washington officials denied reports that White House Chief...
...confrontations scarcely matched the anger that exploded after the coup attempt. Emboldened by rumors that Noriega had been toppled, some Panamanians went on a protest spree that degenerated into sporadic rioting. While some neighborhoods stayed calm in Panama City, streets and alleys in others were thick with smoke from burning mounds of garbage, tires and trees. Looters set fire to shops and a department store near Noriega's headquarters. Striking utility workers deepened the gloom. Power-company employees cut electric service; telephone lines went dead...
...measure of calm returned to the capital, observers tried to piece together how the coup attempt had developed. Informed sources said the plotters contacted at least one high-ranking U.S. military officer before the attempt and originally intended to move against Noriega on Wednesday night. Perhaps fearful that their plans might leak, they struck in the morning instead. But the hastily planned attempt was a study in failure...
...source close to the Defense Forces said Barrera might have been faulted for not knowing in advance of Wednesday's coup attempt, which was said to have involved a few junior officers lead by the nation's police chief, Col. Leonidas Macias...