Word: panama
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...absence of clearly defined policy goals, even the successful projection of American military power can come to an indecisive conclusion. Two years after the American invasion of Panama, that nation is once again a corrupt parody of democracy. One year after the liberation of Kuwait, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein remains in power, still repressing his own people and threatening the hapless Kurds, while the autocratic Kuwaitis pursue their own abuses against Palestinians in their country...
Miami has indeed proved to be a trial for Booth. Actually, two trials: the sensational rape proceeding against William Kennedy Smith, which produced TIME's "Date Rape" cover story, and the drug case starring fallen Panama strongman Manuel Noriega. She is thinking of more than climate when she boasts, "Miami is the hottest assignment around." Outside the courtrooms, Booth reported a cover story on Orlando and finagled 1992's great correspondent coup, a Business lead story on the booming cruise industry. Naturally, duty required Cathy to sample a Bahamas cruise. The bureau also covers the Caribbean, and she has reported...
Still, various DEA chiefs and attaches admitted that Noriega's Panama Defense Forces had closed down the infamous Darien drug-refining lab of the Medellin cartel, confiscated drug-refining chemicals, helped catch drug traffickers and money launderers, and even closed a cartel-controlled bank. James Bramble, former head of the DEA office in Panama, testified that a P.D.F. tip led to the capture of the cartel's top money launderer, Ramon Milian Rodriguez, when he was in Florida to ship $5.5 million in drug proceeds to Panama. His arrest occurred at about the same time that the prosecution claims Noriega...
...prosecution's most sensational witness -- ex-Medellin drug boss Carlos Lehder -- testified that at one point 80% of all Colombian cocaine shipments were flowing through Panama, yielding Noriega $1 million a month in payoffs for looking the other way. Yet despite his cartel position, Lehder never met Noriega and had no direct knowledge of payoffs. But drug trafficker Gabriel Taboada testified that he saw Noriega visit the Medellin cartel offices and accept a bag with $500,000, while drug pilot Roberto Streidinger said he delivered a gift of six dancing girls...
...betting around the courthouse is that only two racketeering counts against Noriega will stick. Meanwhile, the DEA reports, drug trafficking is again on the rise in Panama. U.S. investigators are looking into links between traffickers and the law firm of Guillermo Endara, who became Panama's President when Noriega was overthrown...