Growing tension between the United States and Venezuela has increased fears of a possible invasion of the South American country.
The US has carried out attacks on boats believed to be transporting drugs in the Caribbean. In addition, they deployed thousands of military personnel in the region, and President Donald Trump authorized CIA operations, the American intelligence agency, in Venezuelan territory.
Thus, supporters of an American intervention, including Venezuelan opponents, indicated a possible similarity of the current situation with the invasion of Panama by the United States in 1989, which led to the deposition of the then dictator Manuel Noriega.
He had been accused of money laundering and drug trafficking, as well as links to Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel.
Remember below what the invasion of Panama was and
Takeover of power by Manuel Noriega in Panama
Manuel Antonio Noriega Morena was a paid collaborator of the CIA, having worked closely with the USA.
He helped American forces establish listening posts in Panama and use the country to funnel aid to pro-American forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua.
With this information, Noriega manipulated his Panamanian and American superiors to advance his own interests.
He became head of Panama’s military intelligence under Omar Torrijos, who had seized power in a coup in 1968.
Torrijos died in a plane crash in 1981, and two years later, in 1983, Noriega took control of the Panamanian Army and the country.
According to testimony, American authorities knew of Noriega’s involvement in the crime as early as 1978, and in 1983 they had a “21-proof weapon” against him.
Between 1970 and 1987, the Panamanian appeared in at least 80 different U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration files.
However, the American government did not act at first, in part because Panama was seen as a “buffer” against left-wing insurgencies in Central America during the Cold War.
Relations between Panama and the United States worsen
Relations with the United States began to deteriorate in 1985, when Nicolas Ardito Barletta, Panama’s first elected president in 16 years, was forced to resign.
He had pushed for an investigation into the murder of a government opponent.
In 1988, Noriega was formally charged by the US Court with crimes related to drug trafficking and money laundering.
In 1989, a general election was annulled in Panama. Months later, in December, the country’s National Assembly declared that the United States and Panama were in a “state of war.”
The invasion of Panama
Amid growing unrest in Panama, then-US President George HW Bush ordered an invasion of the Central American country in December 1989, claiming that Noriega’s regime was a threat to American life and property.
The operation was named “Just Cause” and was intended to remove the Panamanian dictator from power.
With more than 20,000 US troops on Panamanian soil, Noriega took refuge in the Vatican embassy in Panama City for 10 days.
American forces installed loudspeakers around the compound as a psychological tactic. The dictator surrendered on January 3, 1990.
The invasion killed around 500 Panamanians, including around 300 civilians. As for the United States forces, 23 American soldiers lost their lives in the attack.
Noriega is convicted in the United States
In April 1992, Manuel Noriega became the first foreign head of state convicted in a US court. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug smuggling and extortion — a sentence that was later reduced to 30 years.
Subsequently, the former dictator was also convicted and sentenced on charges of murder and money laundering.
He was imprisoned in the USA until 2010, when he was extradited to France, where he was sentenced to seven years in prison for money laundering.
In December 2011, Noriega was extradited to Panama, where he was wanted for the death of a political opponent while in power.
Manuel Noriega died in 2017, aged 83, after a series of health problems.
What is the similarity between Panama and Venezuela? Is an invasion possible?
A CNN consulted experts in a similar way to what happened in 1989.
Brian Winter, political analyst and editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly magazine, assesses that there are important differences between the two cases, starting with the time and context itself.
“In 1989 we were still in the Cold War. There was more tolerance in American society towards wars abroad. In today’s world, after the failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no longer tolerance for war or invasions on the part of the American public”, he commented.
According to the expert, this opposition to US involvement in new conflicts also occurs among Donald Trump’s electoral base, not only in the Democratic Party, but also, for example, among war veterans.
André Pagliarini, professor of history and international studies at Louisiana State University, also draws attention to this point, highlighting that the American president stated during the election campaign that he was against the Iraq war, for example.
“Both Panama and Grenada were limited actions, with relatively small investments on the part of the Americans. Iraq and Afghanistan were nothing like that, and I think that’s what most Americans think of when they hear about possible US military involvement in Venezuela,” he assessed.
“I have no doubt that Trump would like to remove [Nicolás] Maduro if it were as simple as it was to overthrow Noriega — simple, of course, in relative terms. But I believe he himself recognizes that today’s challenge is considerably greater than that of 1989,” he added.
Thus, experts raise another question: in 1989 the United States had a military base in Panama, with thousands of soldiers, which is not the case now in the case of Venezuela, which is also a much larger and more difficult to control country.
Pagliarini also highlights that military engagement in this case would not lead to a quick resolution.
In any case, experts assessed that Donald Trump could either continue with attacks and operations or use indirect means of coercion — for example, trying to get other governments in the region to work together to remove Maduro from power.
“I don’t imagine we will see a repeat of Panama, but perhaps that won’t even be necessary”, points out André Pagliarini.
*with information from Reuters
