Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 14 of 24 · 23 min
The Rise of Noriega: The CIA's Man Who Became America's Most Wanted
When Omar Torrijos died in 1981, his spymaster Manuel Noriega emerged as Panama's de facto ruler, a paid CIA asset who also laundered cartel money. The episode follows his rise from 1981 to 1987, through the murder of critic Hugo Spadafora, the Iran-Contra exposure and a mass protest, to the U.S. indictment of 1988.
Who's who
- Manuel Noriega+1 more episodeTorrijos's intelligence chief; de facto ruler from 1983; CIA asset
- Omar Torrijos+1 more episodeRuler whose 1981 death left the vacuum
- Ronald Reagan+11 more episodesU.S. President whose anti-communist priorities protected Noriega
- William Casey+2 more episodesCIA director in the Reagan administration
- Hugo SpadaforaPhysician and critic tortured and killed in 1985
- Roberto Díaz HerreraNoriega's deputy whose 1987 revelations blew open the regime
- Nicolás Ardito BarlettaPresident installed by the rigged 1984 election
- Pablo EscobarMedellín cartel leader linked to Noriega's laundering
Where it happens
- Panama+5 more episodesCountry ruled by Noriega's Defense Forces
- Cerro Marta, PanamaSite of Torrijos's fatal crash
- Miami and Tampa, FloridaWhere U.S. courts indicted Noriega in 1988
Timeline
- July 31, 1981Torrijos dies in a plane crash
- 1983Noriega forms the Panamanian Defense Forces and becomes de facto ruler
- 1984Rigged election installs Barletta
- September 1985Hugo Spadafora murdered
- June 1987Díaz Herrera's revelations; about 100,000 march on June 26
- February 1988U.S. courts in Miami and Tampa indict Noriega
Still debated
Torrijos's death is officially an accident, and sabotage theories implicating Noriega are unproven. Historians still parse exactly who in Washington knew what and when about Noriega's drug ties. The Dignity Battalions date to 1988, not the 1987 protests.
← PreviousTorrijos: How a General Talked America Into Giving the Canal BackNext →Operation Just Cause: The 1989 Invasion of Panama and Its Contested Toll
Connected episodes in other series
Iran–Contra, the Tanker War & Flight 655: The 1980s That Broke TrustIran & America: A Century and Counting · Episode 6Also features Ronald Reagan, William Casey
Why Mexico Ranks Happier Than the United StatesHappiness in the World · Episode 1Also features Ronald Reagan
Coming Apart: No-Fault Divorce and the Gray Divorce RevolutionHaving It All · Episode 6Also features Ronald Reagan
How Emptying the Asylums Created Modern HomelessnessNo Fixed Address · Episode 2Also features Ronald Reagan