El Jefe Máximo: How Manuel Noriega Came to Power and Sustained His Regime

Abstract

The conditions that allowed for the creation and sustainment of the regime of General Manuel Noriega of Panama span the areas of politics, military, violence, cronyism, corruption, and propaganda. Noriega’s disavowal of the authority of the President of Panama, Eric Delvalle, who “fired”(1) Noriega from his military position as Commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces on February 25, 1988(2) and the General’s subsequent manipulation of the Legislative Assembly, established his role as de facto military and political leader of the country. Overall, Noriega used many elements of national power to sustain himself in power(3) including: MILITARY - Having himself promoted three ranks to four-star general after he assumed command of the National Guard, thus placing himself four ranks above the next most senior officer - Restructuring the National Guard to become the Panama Defense Forces (PDF) - Ordering the extrajudicial killing of a key opponent, Dr. Hugo Spadafora, by PDF - Creating an armed militia force, the Dignity Battalions, numbering about fifteen thousand, who were loyal only to him and ready to commit violence when needed - Quashing peaceful demonstrations against his rule and brutalizing detainees POLITICS - Manipulating nearly every presidential transition from 1983 through 1989 - Discarding the role of the constitutional Legislative Assembly and creating the larger, fully pro-regime National Assembly of District Representatives, which could then rubber-stamp his decisions - Assigning his cronies to the Electoral Tribunal, which ensured presidential voting favored his chosen candidate MEDIA - Shutting down opposition media and favoring state-run media including newspapers, radio, and TV, which resulted in his voice being heard and driving the opposition underground BUSINESSES & DRUGS - Using government-controlled, income-generating entities to enrich himself and his favored subordinates - Allowing narcotics traffickers to use national territory and banks for the drug trade for which he received a share of the proceeds - Permitting money-laundering in Panama, for which he received generous compensation 1 Thomas Donnelly, Margaret Roth, and Caleb Baker, Operation Just Cause: The Storming of Panama (New York: Lexington Books, 1991), 22. Delvalle’s action was done at the suggestion of the US Department of State. 2 Kevin Buckley, Panama The Whole Story, (New York: Simon and Shuster, 1991), 124. 3 John Dinges, Our Man in Panama: How General Noriega Used the U.S. - and Made Millions in Drugs and Arms. New York: Random House, 1990, 251. Noriega followed the maxim of his mentor, the late General Omar Torrijos of Panama: “The first duty of a man in power is to stay in power.”

Disciplines

International and Area Studies | Latin American Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences

First Advisor

Khalil Habib

Date of Award

1-1-2019

Document Type

Dissertation

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