Word: noriega
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...midst of the tapes confusion, Noriega's lawyers added yet another twist to the case. Their client, they said, was broke. The Panamanian government claims that Noriega looted the country of up to $300 million, but all the booty that has so far come to light, an estimated $20 million in 27 bank accounts around the world, has been frozen. The attorneys, who charge up to $350 an hour, have not been paid in 11 months, and say they can no longer afford to represent the former Panamanian leader. They asked Judge Hoeveler to set aside a ceiling...
Some people in the State Department are quietly relieved that leaked audiotapes may unhinge the government's prosecution of Manuel Noriega. "The trial is going to be very messy," says one official at State. "The defense is going to ask for all sorts of sensitive information and force us to compromise security or endanger the case against Noriega. The primary goal was always to get him out of power. I don't see what we get out of getting him convicted." Such talk may fuel the rumor among Panamanians that the tapes were intentionally passed to CNN to torpedo...
Even as the case against Manuel Noriega was degenerating into a legal three- ring circus, the country he once dominated was mired in a deep slump. Nearly a year after being installed by the U.S. invasion, the government of President Guillermo Endara is stumbling badly in the monumental chore of rebuilding a country devastated by corruption and the financial squeeze applied by the U.S. during the final two years of Noriega's reign. Though Bush Administration officials praise Endara for his good intentions, they fear that he and his government may not be up to the task of converting Panama...
...city's tragic transformation began in the 1950s, when an economic boom in Panama City diverted investment and, later, government spending from Colon. But after Noriega was overthrown, there was hope that Colon might begin to recover. More than 80 residents, most of them unarmed civilians, were killed in the U.S. invasion, but even that toll seemed an acceptable price for Colon's rehabilitation. "We thought maybe this government would remember us," says Father Carlos Ariz, bishop of Colon. "Instead the government says it has no way to help...
Drug trafficking and money laundering, which reached epidemic proportions under Noriega, continue to flourish. More than 13,000 lbs. of cocaine -- worth $153 million wholesale in the U.S. -- have been seized since January. "One can only surmise that if this much is being seized, a lot more is moving," says Hinton. At the same time, U.S. attempts to control money laundering have been stymied by Panama's banking laws, which remain unchanged since Noriega's days. Washington is eager to negotiate a treaty that would give American investigators access to secret accounts when they suspect criminal activity. But Endara...