The Saturday apprehension of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife is drawing parallels to the dramatic 1989 removal of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, an event that occurred exactly 36 years prior to Maduro’s January 3 capture.
Under the administration of former President George H.W. Bush, U.S. military forces initiated an invasion of Panama in the early morning of December 20, 1989, charging Noriega with collaborating with drug cartels to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
He was also accused of interfering with Panama’s 1989 presidential election.
“The objective was to reinstate the democratically elected government of Guillermo Endara and apprehend Noriega on narcotics charges,” as stated on the U.S. Army’s website. “Operation Just Cause was, at that time, the biggest and most intricate combat mission since the Vietnam War.”
Much like the operation targeting Maduro this past Saturday, the 1989 mission moved forward without clear congressional approval, according to reports.
Noriega’s capture, however, spanned several weeks as he avoided arrest by seeking sanctuary inside the Vatican’s embassy in Panama City.
U.S. soldiers employed psychological operations to compel Noriega to leave his hiding place.
In a strategy called “Operation Nifty Package,” armored vehicles equipped with loudspeakers played relentless rock music, featuring tracks from artists like The Clash, Van Halen, and U2, as noted in reports.
Noriega finally gave himself up to U.S. authorities on January 3, 1990—exactly 36 years before Maduro’s capture—and was transported to the United States for trial, Axios reported.
The incursion led to the deaths of 23 American service members and injured 320 others. Pentagon estimates indicated approximately 200 Panamanian civilians and 314 Panamanian troops were killed, the Associated Press noted.
Noriega was found guilty on drug trafficking counts in a 1992 trial and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The AP reported he was accorded prisoner-of-war status, detained in an isolated bungalow separate from the general prison population, and permitted to wear his full Panamanian military uniform and decorations in court.
Following 17 years in a U.S. penitentiary, he was sent to France and later to Panama. He passed away in 2017, according to the AP.
President Trump declared on Saturday that Maduro and his spouse had been apprehended and airlifted from Venezuela as a component of “Operation Absolute Resolve.”
Over recent months, the U.S. military has conducted multiple strikes against suspected narcotics ships linked to the Venezuelan government in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.
President Trump stated that the U.S. government would “run” Venezuela until a permanent leader is installed, “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”