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Noriega asks for Panama's forgiveness

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panamajames
  6/24/2015 20:41 EST

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega has broken a long silence and is asking his compatriots to forgive actions by Panama's military during his regime that culminated in the 1989 U.S. invasion.
Speaking to local network Telemetro from prison Wednesday, Noriega says his apology comes after days of reflection with his family and religious mentors.

The onetime CIA informant hadn't spoken to a journalist since a 1996 interview with CNN's Larry King from a Miami federal prison, where he was sent for drug trafficking after being captured by U.S. troops.

After completing his sentence in the U.S., Noriega was extradited to France to serve additional time for money laundering. He returned to Panama in 2011 to complete a sentence for the murder of a prominent opponent during the military's 21-year rule.

panamajames
  6/25/2015 23:13 EST

Former dictator Manuel Noriega on Wednesday asked Panama to forgive the military leaders that ruled the Central American country for two decades before their eventual overthrow after a U.S. military invasion in 1989.

Noriega, now 81, has been in prison for 26 years and still faces several charges of human rights abuses during his six years in power. He said he wanted to "close the cycle of the military era."

"I am asking for forgiveness from all the people who were offended, affected, hurt or humiliated by my actions or those of my superiors in compliance with orders, or those of my subordinates," he said in a prepared statement to a local television station.

A U.S. military invasion in 1989 ended Noriega's rule and brought him to the United States where he was convicted in 1992 on drug and racketeering charges and served a prison sentence until 2010.

Noriega was then extradited to France to serve a separate sentence on money laundering charges. He returned to Panama in 2011, where he remains in jail for crimes committed during his rule.

He has been refused house arrest, although his age should allow it. His daughter once said that anyone else would have been given house arrest under the circumstances. He is not allowed because he is "Noriega".

Most of Noriega's mansion homes have been destroyed over the years, some recently because they were considered to be a breeding ground for mosquitos and Dengue Fever, and were an eyesore to then President Ricardo Martinelli who lived in that neighborhood.

I went to see Noriega's mansion at the beach just down from the Decameron Resort a few weeks ago, and the big waves from a month or two back, have virtually destroyed what little remained of his place there. Most everything has collapsed and is being taken back by nature. I still managed a few souvenirs.

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panamajames
  6/25/2015 23:59 EST

Noriega began the brief jailhouse interview with local network Telemetro reading a handwritten statement in which he said his apology came after days of reflection with his family and members of the church.

He said he wasn't motivated by any personal interest but a sincere desire to bring closure to the military era, a dark chapter in Panama's history that left the country in ruin and thousands dead.

"Before the altar of my conscience I've come to express myself in the spirit of forgiveness," Noriega said, his hand shaking but otherwise appearing in good health for his 81 years.

The onetime CIA informant hadn't spoken to a journalist since a 1996 interview with CNN's Larry King from a Miami federal prison, where following his capture by American troops he was sent for being a major conduit for Colombian cocaine traffickers.

After completing his sentence in the U.S., Noriega was extradited to France to serve time for money laundering. He returned to Panama in 2011 to complete a 60-year sentence for murder, corruption and embezzlement during the military's three-decade rule.

Referring to himself as the "last general of the military era," Noriega apologized to those "offended, affected, injured or humiliated" by his own actions or those of his superiors and subordinates during the regime that he began serving as a low-ranking officer in the 1960s.

He didn't comment on any specific abuses and refused to take the bait when pressed about whether his act of contrition involved clarifying the still murky circumstances that led to the disappearance and murder of two prominent opponents.

Saying he was "totally at peace" with himself, Noriega said he didn't want to distract from the "solemnity" of his statement.

Reaction among Panamanians was mixed.

Many on social media saw the apology as a surprising capitulation from the famously stubborn strongman, who lost his apparent interest and power to influence Panamanian politics years ago.

But others judged it as a sly move to pave the way for a presidential pardon or for him to finish his sentence under house arrest, something his lawyers have been seeking on medical grounds for years. Indeed, he prefaced his written statement with a brief protest against what he said were excessively long sentences imposed by Panamanian courts in absentia.

"The problem with Noriega is you can never distinguish between what's true or not," said R.M. Koster, an American novelist and biographer of Noriega who has lived in Panama for decades.

___

ok269
  6/26/2015 12:43 EST

Do you think the family of the Doctor that was tortured for hours and then had his head cut off, feels Noriega should be allowed to go home?

panamajames
  6/26/2015 17:54 EST

You have to examine your own heart and see if you feel that vengeance is the way you want to approach life and it's situation. Maybe it is the Christian thing to do. I am sure that the families of those victims are not in a very forgiving mood, but the President of Panama, is asking that the people consider forgiveness. ..............................................................Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela urged the nation Thursday to forgive jailed former dictator Manuel Noriega after he apologized to victims of his 1983-1989 regime.

Noriega said Wednesday in a statement read out on national television that he was sorry for the atrocities committed during his rule, when more than 100 of his opponents were murdered or disappeared, according to Panama's truth commission.

"I apologize to anyone who feels offended, affected, harmed or humiliated by my actions or those of my superiors in carrying out orders or those of my subordinates during the time of my civilian and military government," said Noriega, who was ousted in a US invasion.

Noriega, 81, is currently serving three 20-year prison sentences for the disappearances of two opponents in the 1980s and a bloody crackdown on soldiers who staged a failed uprising against him.

Varela called on Panamanians to accept his apology.

"He asked forgiveness and I believe as a Christian that all of us must forgive. The Panamanian people have already overcome that period of the dictatorship," he said.

Panama's Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa joined the appeal, saying Noriega's apology would help the nation "turn the page."

But some victims' families dismissed the apology as a ploy by Noriega to get out of jail.

Authorities have repeatedly rejected his requests to be placed under house arrest due to failing health.

Moreover, Noriega still has a pending case against him for the disappearance of a leftist union activist in the 1970s, when he was head of the National Guard and right-hand man to then-de facto dictator Omar Torrijos.

"Before asking forgiveness he should speak up and tell us everything that happened. I feel he has other interests, like being granted house arrest," said Maritza Maestre, who coordinates a committee for victims' families.

Former opponents of the regime also questioned Noriega's motives.

"I think we Panamanians are surprised and asking ourselves, 'Why now? What's his goal?'" said Aurelio Barria, once a leading opponent of Noriega.

After surrendering to the US military following an invasion that left some 5000 people dead, Noriega was jailed for 20 years in the United States for drug trafficking.

He was then extradited to France and jailed for two years for money laundering, before being extradited back to Panama..

Gmancopecito
  6/26/2015 21:17 EST

No!

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panamajames
  6/27/2015 02:51 EST

It has been said by many Panamanians that George Herbert Walker Bush was responsible for many more Panamanian deaths than Noriega was, due to his "Operation Just Cause", and they doubt they will ever hear any apologies from the Bush family.

In English, you can watch a documentary here called “The Panama Deception” narrated by American Elizabeth Montgomery, who you may remember as Samatha on the comedy TV program Bewitched.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo6yVNWcGCo

Click below to watch Noriega in Spanish on Telemetro TV and you will find some other articles on his life at that site. HTTP://WWW.TELEMETRO.COM/NACIONALES/NORIEGA-PANAMA-CIERRO-MILITAR-PIDIENDO_0_819218964.HTML

stgibson
  6/27/2015 15:18 EST

Read "Panama" by Kevin Buckley and then form your opinions. He allowed Hugo Spadafora, who was then in exile in Costa Rica, back into the country. He had him met at Paso Canoas and escorted, tortured and had his head put back in Costa Rica, so this gives you an idea of how he thinks.

panamajames
  6/27/2015 15:54 EST

Charlton Heston, who probably wanted to become US President at one time, narrates a point of view version of “Operation Just Cause”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yNaWZr6-eg

panamajames
  7/2/2015 23:13 EST

Now in a wheelchair, living his days in prison, 81-year-old Manuel Antonio Noriega cuts a far more docile figure than during his years as a machete-waving dictator. Yet still he evokes passions in his countrymen.
Noriega demonstrated that recently when he went on television to read a statement asking for forgiveness for his dictatorship, which ended when U.S. troops invaded Panama in late 1989.
Now, Panamanians are parsing whether Noriega displayed true contrition when he pleaded to leave prison for house arrest. Now they face a challenge: Whether to demand a full accounting from Noriega, including details of a beheading of a hated foe, or to turn the page on a history that is a generation old.
These days, Noriega dwells in a one-bedroom apartment in the Renacer Prison in a jungle-strewn area alongside the Panama Canal. The climate is sultry, but Noriega’s apartment has air-conditioning, a television and a computer. He spends much of his days reading news articles online. A doctor is on hand daily.
“Because of the strokes (that he suffered in years past), he has a lot of difficulty walking,” said Guillermo A. Cochez, a former Panamanian ambassador to the Organization of American States who has visited Noriega four times in the past month
Even his few supporters acknowledge that Panamanians generally believe the former strongman harbors secrets about complicities and abuses.

“They feel that there’s a secret truth that only he knows,” said Mario Rognoni, a former legislator for the Democratic Revolutionary Party, which once supported Noriega. Still, he added, Noriega presents no danger to Panama.
“Noriega is as harmless as a baby. He’s 81 years old. He has no followers,” said Rognoni, one of the onetime dictator’s few known friends.
After the U.S. invasion, Noriega spent more than two decades in detention in South Florida on drug trafficking, racketeering and money-laundering charges, then several more years in prison in France, returning to Panama in late 2011, only to remain in prison on charges of killing political opponents.
The televised statement and brief interaction with a television reporter at the prison June 24 was Noriega’s first televised appearance since speaking to former CNN television host Larry King in 1996.

“I apologize to anyone who was offended, harmed, injured or humiliated by my actions or those of my superiors in compliance with orders or those of my subordinates in the same status,” Noriega said, reading from his statement.
Noriega declined to answer questions about specific incidents of abuse during his regime, saying he’s paid his punishment. “I’ve been in captivity for more than 25 years,” Noriega told television reporter Alvaro Alvarado.
President Juan Carlos Varela and Panama City Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa both suggested that a pardon was in order. But a public backlash has built.
“The reaction has been so negative that if anyone in the present government were thinking of it, they are probably rethinking it,” said Roberto Eisenmann, the founder of La Prensa, Panama’s leading daily newspaper.
Eisenmann said Noriega wasn’t convincing in his appeal for forgiveness.
“There was no emotion attached to it. He didn’t convince anybody that it was a heartfelt appeal for forgiveness,” he said.

“Noriega didn’t voice regret for anything,” said Carmenza Spadafora, sister of Hugo Spadafora, a physician and guerrilla fighter who disappeared upon entering Panama in 1985.His decapitated body was later found in a postal bag. The head was never found. The murder was blamed on Noriega’s henchmen.
“I think (the statement) backfired on him because he couldn’t hide the falsity of his repentance,” she said.
Spadafora, a scientist, said she “cannot imagine him going home to swing in a hammock.” Noriega, she added, should remain in jail “until his death.”
Cochez, the former ambassador, takes a sharply different view. As a former opposition legislator, Cochez was jailed twice during the Noriega years and feared in 1989 that he would be murdered upon returning from a trip to Miami. But Cochez said he believes Noriega has paid a sufficient price. When he tweeted about the case in early June, he was surprised to receive a phone call from Noriega himself.
“He said only, ‘Thank you for your support,’” Cochez recalled.
As a practicing Christian, Cochez felt moved to visit Noriega at the prison, and with the help of Catholic prelates he arranged the televised statement. During some of his visits, Noriega’s three daughters – Thays, Lorena and Sandra – were present, he said.
Questions remain about killings of political opponents during the Noriega years. In addition to the 1985 Spadafora murder, killings include the execution of Maj. Moisés Giroldi Vera, leader of a failed coup attempt in October 1989. Twelve others were executed for their part in the coup attempt in what is known as the “Albrook massacre.”
Opponents also blame Noriega for the excessive use of force by security forces against public protests in 1987 and deadly electoral violence in May 1989.
Cochez said he doesn’t know details of Noriega’s alleged role in such crimes.
“Any acceptance of a pardon for Noriega will not make him innocent,” Cochez said, adding that many Panamanian businessmen, politicians and judges never paid a price for collaborating with the Noriega regime.
“A lot of people were accomplices of what happened,” Cochez said. “They all abandoned Noriega. . . . He only has two or three people who visit him.”
It is up to criminal judges to grant or refuse Noriega permission to serve out time under house arrest, perhaps at the home of one of his daughters.
“He doesn’t have a lot of time,” Cochez said. “Noriega is the kind of guy who could die tomorrow because he has so many (health) complications.”

panamajames
  7/4/2015 16:24 EST

A truth commission will examine the US invasion of Panama, which took place more than 25 years ago and toppled military dictator General Manuel Noriega.

The commission will look at victims of the military operation launched by the United States at the end of 1989, Panama Foreign Minister Isabel Saint Malo said.

The number of people estimated killed in operation Just Cause is more than 3000, including numerous civilians.

But the exact number of victims and their identities isn't known because many bodies were buried in mass graves.

After a long period of co-operation with the US, Noriega fell out of favor with the country toward the end of the 1980's because of his ties with the Medellin drug cartel (Pablo Escobar) and human rights abuses.

Noriega, 81, spent more than two decades in prison in the US and France on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

He is serving out the last years of his sentence in Panama.

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panamajames
  7/10/2015 19:24 EST

Friday July 10th 1992. This day in history.......................Panamanian leader Noriega sentenced..........

Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was sentenced by a federal judge in Miami, Fla., to 40 years in prison after he was convicted by a jury on eight drug and racketeering counts. The former general, wearing his full-dress military uniform for the first time since his capture in 1989, read a statement to the court for nearly three hours before being sentenced. During his statement, he had to pause periodically so interpreters could read his statement in English to the judge. He maintained his innocence and accused the U.S. of political persecution.

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