Word: strongman
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...General Manuel Antonio Noriega, the crisis seemed to grow more desperate by the day. As Panama suffered through a worsening cash crunch and 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...
...point all sides agreed: Noriega's five-year reign as Panama's strongman seems to be near an end. Support for the general has withered rapidly since President Eric Arturo Delvalle tried to dismiss him as chief of | the Defense Forces last month. When Noriega flexed his muscle by engineering Delvalle's ouster instead, Washington responded by heeding Delvalle's plea for a freeze on some $50 million in Panamanian funds in U.S. banks and imposed other sanctions as well. The moves forced Panama to shut its banks, slowing down a once fast-paced economy and driving thousands, from doctors...
...With the strongman's departure possibly looming, some experts are worried about the shape a post-Noriega Panama will take. "Nobody is looking at who will be left in the general's absence," says a Panamanian in the U.S. who wants Noriega to quit. "People say Noriega is a thug, but there is a group in the army that is far worse...
...shortage puts Panama' s strongman in a painful squeeze. While he easily rides out street protests, the general may step aside if Washington drops drug charges. -- Besieged by critics, Israel' s Prime Minister Shamir prepares to visit Washington. -- The pace slows in Afghan peace talks, but a settlement is still in sight. -- Welcome to Medellin, the cocaine capital of the world...
...Noriega fired his intelligence chief and four other officers in an apparent purge of his fractured Defense Forces two days after a failed coup attempt against the military strongman...