Inside the Nunciatura, Noriega was apparently accommodated in spartan circumstances alone in a room with only a small machine gun which he had smuggled in, for company. He had plenty of time to reflect on his predicament. If he wound up in the hands of Panamanian authorities he faced the possibility of serious charges—assuming he made it alive to the courtroom. If he was hoping for safe conduct out of the country to a haven in Spain or Cuba, he was disillusioned and as the days dragged by, it seemed that Noriega could even be doomed to spend the rest of his days in the Nunciatura.
Outside the debate was raging. Pressure was being put on the local Catholic Church and on the Vatican to expel Noriega. The argument that the General was a criminal and therefore should not be granted political asylum was presented forcibly. Angry demonstrations took place and thousands signed petitions demanding that the Vatican act. Government statements made it clear, Panama didn’t have a goal secure enough. In other words, Noriega was a problem they would rather do without.
Finally, the Cruzada Civilista movement organized a mass rally on Avenida Balboa as close as they could to the Nunciatura, the roads to which were blocked by U.S. troops. The crowds, yelling “assassin” and “never more” gave the impression that if Mons. Laboa would not deliver Noriega, they would come in and get him.
Newspapers said that Mons. Laboa decided that the issue was criminal and not diplomatic and that he pressured Noriega to give himself up, even threatening to lift the embassy’s diplomatic immunity. Whatever the reasons, Noriega walked out through the wrought iron gate of the embassy at 8:50 p.m. on Wednesday Jan 1990 to be seized by a squad of U. S. Delta Force soldiers who handcuffed him and hustled him to a waiting helicopter. Within hours he was in Miami, transferred by a special military flight from Howard Air Force Base.
The following day, the man who appointed and fired six presidents during his brief term of power: who appointed himself as Panama’s maximum leader and whose puppet parliament declared itself at war with the United States, appeared before an American judge accused of being a narcotics racketeer.
to be continued+++
Jones, Kenneth J., The Enemy Within: Casting Out Panama’s Demon
Copyright © 1990 Focus Publications, (Int.), S.A.
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