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panamajames
Joined 2012
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10 years ago

Noriega's Panama mansions ordered demolished

10 years ago

Noriega former homes are a dengue threat
WEDNESDAY, 08 JANUARY 2014 20:39
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TWO HOUSES that once belonged to former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega face demolition if the Ministry of Health gets its way. Like the dictator during his rule, the homes have become a threat to the citizens of Panama.

Health authorities have confirmed a request to the Ministry of Economy and Finance to demolish the two houses in upscale Altos del Golf, where President Ricardo Martinelli also has two properties.

The Noriega houses, once the scene of lavish parties attended by the glitterati of Panama, were put on the market several times but there were no takers. At one time supporters of the former strongman started renovations on one of the homes in anticipation of his return after completing his jail sentences, instead he moved into a less expansive habitation in a Panama prison.
The request for demolition was made because the houses have become breeding sites of the aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue say news agency reports.
Metropolitan Health Director Jorge Hassán inspected the homes Tuesday, January 7 and said he found up to ten breeding places for mosquitoes.
In the last two months five people have died from dengue, which is being reported in record numbers.

Hassan said that health workers can only eliminate the breeding grounds by fumigating the residences.
He argued that the ultimate answer to the problem lies in demolishing the abandoned houses.
Noriega has been jailed since 1990 in the United States, France and now Panama for crimes he committed while in power.
Noriega, 80, is being held in the, El Renacer, medium security prison awaiting further criminal charges.
The former chief military was arrested in Panama in 1990 by U.S. troops who invaded the country on December 20, 1989 to overthrow his regime.

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Agence France-Presse January 9, 2014 2:47pm

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Workers started demolishing mansions owned by imprisoned ex-dictator Manuel Noriega and his daughter Thursday on orders of Panamanian authorities who said they had become breeding grounds for dengue-bearing mosquitos and a hideout for thieves.
Crews used a mechanical shovel to crush the roof and tear down walls of the two mansions, which sit side by side in the exclusive Altos del Golfo neighborhood outside the capital.
The rubble was loaded onto two dump trucks by Public Works employees.
"This was a focus of mosquito-breeding grounds and a robbers' cave," said Jaime C o h e n, a presidential advisor, who said the demolition work would take several days.
Noriega's house has been valued at $1.2 million and his daughter Sandra's at $500,000.
The Ministry of Economy and Finances, which took over the properties after Noriega's ouster in a 1989 US invasion, said it hadn't ordered the demolition.
"There are procedures that have to be followed before beginning a demolition," said Economy Minister Frank de Lima on his Twitter account.
But Health Minister Javier Diaz told AFP, "We inspected the houses and found breeding grounds for mosquitos. They were eliminated, it was fumigated and the decision was taken to demolish the houses."
Panamanian authorities are currently combating a dengue epidemic, which has killed six people and infected 3,300 others.
Noriega associates called the demolitions an "outrage."
"These houses cannot be demolished because they belong to the Noriega family," protested Julio Berrios, a lawyer who has represented Noriega in the past.
After his ouster, Noriega spent two decades in a US prison on drug trafficking charges and two more years in a French prison before being returned to Panama in 2011.
He is currently in prison here, accused of the murders of opponents of his rule, from 1983 to 1989.
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