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Ex-Dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega: In Happier Days …

 

 

Critica, Panama

In U.S. and Panama, Noriega is an Electoral 'Hot Potato'

 

"All indicators are that elements in Panama and the United States are stalling for time. No one wants a hot potato like Noriega on their hands this close to election season."

 

EDITORIAL

 

By Barbara Howe

 

July 19, 2007

 

Panama - Critica - Home Page (Spanish)

The petition of U.S. Justice Department district attorneys to extradite former general Manuel Antonio Noriega to France is without doubt an initiative of a political nature.

 

Since 1991, governments of Panama have sought the extradition of the former Defense Forces chief, so that he could serve his 61-year prison sentence. In France, a country that once decorated Noriega with the Medal Honor of the Foreign Legion, Noriega was condemned to 10 years in jail for money laundering. With his extradition to this European nation, he is promised a new trial as a prisoner of war of United States.

 

There reality is that the French charges against Noriega are almost identical to those for which he was convicted in Miami. A good lawyer could then assert the principle that no one should be judged twice for the same crime, in which case the ex-dictator would go free.

 

[Noriega's legal status in France is as follows: In July of 1999, a penal court in Paris condemned Noriega and his wife Felicidad for conducting financial transactions with funds originating from drug-trafficking. Noriega and Felicidad were tried in absentia, sentenced to 10 years in prison each, and ordered to pay fines of over $30 million. A French tribunal issued arrest warrants for Noriega and Felicidad; the whereabouts of Noriega was well-known, of course, but not Felicidad's. It is rumored that Felicidad has quietly returned to Panama, and if so, France admits that it will not be able to extradite her because the Panamanian Constitution prohibits extradition].

 

All indicators are that elements in Panama and the United States are stalling for time. No one wants a hot potato like Noriega on their hands this close to election season.

 

We will need to wait until after elections in the United States and those in Panama to know what luck the ex-general will have. What we can forecast is that Manuel Antonio Noriega Morena will not be in Panama, at least until after May 2009.

 

Perhaps due to his prisoner of war status, he'll still be in legal limbo when he leaves prison in September, or perhaps he’ll be transported to Paris where he'll remain for some months.

 

There are those who wager that once he overcomes his legal situation in France, Noriega will return to Panama and remain in prison for several weeks. But then something similar to what occurred in the case of the former manager of the National Bank, Rafael Arosemena will occur: they will award him some form of preliminary probation.

 

Spanish Version Below

 

Noriega a Francia

 

La petición de Fiscales norteamericanos para que la justicia de Estados Unidos extradite al exgeneral Manuel Antonio Noriega a Francia, sin duda que encierra una iniciativa de carácter político.

 

Los gobiernos de Panamá habían solicitado desde 1991 la extradición del exjefe de las Fuerzas de Defensa, para que cumplan condenas por 61 años de prisión. En Francia, país que condecoró a Noriega con la medalla de la Legión Extranjera, Noriega fue condenado a 10 años de cárcel por lavado de dinero. Con su extradición a la nación europea se le promete un nuevo juicio al prisionero de guerra de los Estados Unidos.

 

Existe una realidad, los cargos que se le formulan a Noriega en Francia son casi los mismos por los que fue condenado en Miami. Un buen abogado puede alegar el principio que nadie puede ser juzgado dos veces por las mismas causas y entonces el exdictador saldría libre.

 

Todo pareciera indicar que sectores en Panamá y en Estados Unidos están ganando tiempo. Nadie quiere tener a una papa caliente como Noriega entre sus manos en las cercanías de un proceso electoral.

 

Habrá que esperar hasta después de las elecciones en Estados Unidos y las de Panamá, para saber la suerte que correrá el exgeneral. Lo que se vislumbra es que Manuel Antonio Noriega Morena, no estará en Panamá hasta después de mayo del 2009.

 

Quizás en septiembre cuando salga de prisión su situación quede en un limbo jurídico, debido a su condición de prisionero de guerra o tal vez se le traslade a París, donde permanecerá por algunos meses.

 

Hay quienes apuestan que una vez sea superado su situación jurídica en Francia, Noriega volverá a Panamá y permanecerá algunas semanas en prisión, pero luego sucederá algo similar a lo ocurrido con el exgerente del Banco Nacional, Rafael Arosemena: se le otorgará una medida cautelar.

 


































A 1988 cover of Time Magazine.


American Troops on the ground in Panama, on the hunt for Generalissimo Manuel Noriega in December, 1989





A book on U.S. involvement with the former dictator.



President George H.W. Bush and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, General Colin Powell: Some saw the invasion of Panama as a way of silencing Manuel Noriega, who had a history of working with the CIA and who was regarded as a loose cannon - especially given that a former CIA director that he had cooperated with was then in the White House.