Word: panama
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Bullets flew from both sides of the white wall, turning the suburban street into a war zone. At 6:25, an officer picked up a megaphone and urged surrender. The message was directed at Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera, Panama's former No. 2 military man and a vociferous critic of the country's de facto leader, General Manuel Antonio Noriega. Now Diaz Herrera taunted, "Tell Noriega to come and get me." An hour later police forced Diaz Herrera and a retinue of 45 guests, relatives and bodyguards from the house. All was quiet when, just a few blocks away, Noriega...
Noriega has not made many miscalculations during his career. The son of poor parents, he studied medicine for a year at Panama University. When he won a scholarship for studies at a military academy in Peru, he changed paths quickly. Upon graduation in 1962, the youth signed on with the Panama National Guard as a first lieutenant. He supported the 1968 coup that brought General Omar Torrijos to power. In 1970, after helping to quash a coup attempt against Torrijos, Noriega was made the head of Panama's intelligence services...
...With Panama in turmoil and U.S.-Panamanian relations at their lowest ebb since the rancorous canal negotiations, the outcome is anything but certain. A Philippines-style ending, with Noriega slinking into premature retirement, seems unlikely at this point. The U.S. has far less leverage over the general than it did over Ferdinand Marcos, since Panama receives significantly less U.S. aid and its service-based economy is in relatively healthy condition, although some nervous bankers have recently withdrawn funds. Panama's opposition is largely fragmented and directionless, unlike its counterpart in South Korea...
...contra rebels primarily by pointing to Nicaragua's lack of democracy. Administration credibility would suffer if the U.S. appeared to be too cozy with dictators. Second, Noriega's attempts to whip up anti-American sentiment and to court countries hostile to the U.S. raise worries about the Panama Canal's future. "Can you imagine what it would be like to have the canal in the hands of a Lebanon-like country?"asks a U.S. official. Whatever pressure the U.S. decides to bring, one thing is evident. Says Gabriel Lewis Galindo, a former Panamanian diplomat who heads the opposition's lobbying...
WORLD: An American- backed dictator in Panama faces mounting unrest...