Word: noriega
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...Senators were particularly interested in Blandon's disclosures concerning the relationship Noriega has had with U.S. intelligence officials. Blandon alleged, for instance, that the CIA had supplied Noriega with classified information on his chief Senate critics, including Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. In Kennedy's case, the reports included the Senator's "personal problems," Blandon claimed...
...spokesman said the agency "categorically denies" Blandon's accusation. But Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York, one of Noriega's bluntest antagonists, said he found Blandon's charges eminently credible. "The fact is," he said, "that Noriega -- this thug and racketeer -- has been on the payroll of the CIA for many years and remained there, I understand, until rather recently...
Blandon dropped another bombshell when he alleged that just before the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada, Noriega received a telephone call from Vice President George Bush, who asked him to warn Cuban Leader Fidel Castro not to interfere with the operation. Noriega has long been friendly with the Cuban dictator and has been accused of giving him U.S. intelligence data. Of Blandon's assertion, Bush said, "Hogwash...
Blandon outlined a series of deals and double-deals involving Central American conflicts. In 1985, he said, Noriega met twice in Panama City with Lieut. Colonel Oliver North, a principal figure in the Iran-contra affair. North asked Noriega, Blandon said, to train contra rebels in Panama at a time when the U.S. was forbidden by law to do so. Noriega agreed, Blandon said, though he was at the same time selling arms to Marxist insurgents in El Salvador. North could not be reached for comment...
With the entire 16,000-man Panama Defense Forces at his disposal, Noriega showed little fear of the violent Colombian cocaine barons. His former private pilot Floyd Carlton, who showed up in the hearing room wearing a black hood, told the subcommittee that when the Medellin cartel offered Noriega $30,000 to protect drug flights, the general laughed and asked if they thought he was begging. Carlton said Noriega then demanded, and got, $100,000 in advance for the first flight, $150,000 for the second and $200,000 for the third...