All language subtitles for The.Dictators.Playbook.Series.1.Part.4.Manuel.Noriega.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.

[chop-chop of helicopter blades]

(male narrator)
December 20, 1989.

25,000 U.S. troops
descend on Panama City.

[loud explosion]

It's the biggest American
invasion since the Vietnam War.

Their mission--
to capture one man...

Panama's military dictator,
Manuel Noriega.

(John Dinges)
The United States became enraged

at this two-bit dictator
who was defying it.

(narrator)
U.S. soldiers scour Panama City,

hunting for Noriega...

but he's nowhere to be found.

He basically goes into hiding.

(narrator)
Noriega's turbulent
6-year rule

has been marked by violence,
deception, and excess.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
He was willing to do

just about anything
to get ahead.

(Natasha Ezrow)
He was not only corrupted
by power,

but he was also
corrupted by greed.

(Roberto Eisenmann)
He was a gangster.

Basically a gangster
in a military uniform.

(narrator)
How did a kid
who grew up in poverty

grow rich as dictator of Panama?

And what did he do
to provoke an invasion

by the world's
most powerful nation?

[loud applause & cheering]

(woman)
Dictatorships have had
an incredible impact

in the past century.

These dictators ended up
learning from one another.

(man)
They're all different but
many use the same tactics.

(woman) The use of terror.
(man) Propaganda.

(woman) Control the elites.
Create an enemy.

Cult of personality.
(man) Use violence--

These are tools that dictators
use to stay in power.

(narrator)
Manuel Noriega's rise to
dictator is a near miracle

given the dire circumstances
of his childhood.

He's born in Panama City
in 1934.

Orphaned by the age of 5,

Noriega is raised
by his godmother,

in the rough market area
of Terraplen.

Young men born into the
social strata

where he was born, their life
chances

of rising to prominence and
power

was very limited.

(narrator)
As Noriega grows up
on the mean streets,

he's picked on
for his small size

and his acne-scarred complexion.

But he finds a way to improve
his lot in life.

(John Dinges) Noriega saw
himself

as getting ahead through
education,

he was incredibly intelligent,

good student, somebody who

always excelled at his classes.

(narrator)
Noriega applies himself

and wins a position in
Panama City's best high school.

[chanting]

(narrator)
Like many other Panamanian
students in the early 1950s,

he is swept up in a wave of
anti-American sentiment

that stems from the U.S.
ownership of the Panama Canal.

It's a conflict that will play
a key role in his life

and set the stage
for his eventual dictatorship.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
That was the great struggle

of Panamanian
20th-century history--

to recover national sovereignty,
to recover the Panama Canal.

[loud explosion]

(narrator)
Back in 1903,

America secured the right
to build the Canal

a reward for helping Panama

gain its independence
from Colombia.

The Panamanian elites

who supported the process
of independence,

made a bargain--
gave the United States

the authority to build
the canal,

gave the U.S. control
in perpetuity.

Because to those elites,

independence and building
the Panama Canal,

was at the time

more important than
preserving national sovereignty.

(narrator)
The Canal opens in 1914,

and transforms international
trade by linking

the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

It generates more
than $20 million a year

for the United States, and
enriches Panamanian elites.

And so those elites,

for many Panamanians of
middle class and lower class,

became traitors
to their country.

They sold out their country
for the benefits of the canal.

(Roberto Eisenmann) It became
a source of irritation

because the United States
created what in essence was

a U.S. colony in the midst
of our country.

(narrator)
It's called the Canal Zone,

a strip of land on both sides
of the canal occupied

by some 57,000 Americans...

mostly military.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
That fueled a tremendous level
of resentment

toward the United States.

(narrator)
The tide of U.S. resentment

fans Noriega's
growing nationalism.

Graduating high school, he
boldly declares his ambitions.

If you look at his yearbook,
he says,

my ambitions are to become
a psychiatrist

and the president of Panama.

(narrator)
But Noriega's aspirations are
nearly impossible,

because of the inherent
discrimination

in Panama's class system.

His heritage is Creole,

a mix of African
and European ancestry.

The country's elite,
just 10% of all Panamanians,

are Caucasian.

They've held the positions of
power since Panama was founded.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
It was a political system
that was elite dominated.

It was what one would call an
oligarchic limited democracy.

And so elections were held
on a regular basis,

but those elections were
essentially manipulated

by this elite to keep control
of the political system.

(narrator)
When Noriega tries
to become a doctor,

the harsh reality hits home.

(John Dinges)
He didn't get
into medical school

because the medical school had
a limited number of seats,

and they were almost all given

to the white upper class kids
from the other part of town.

(narrator)
But Noriega is still driven
to get ahead.

And when he runs into a friend
who's in military school

he decides to follow
another route,

one taken by
many would be dictators.

(Mariam Mufti) It is quite
common for dictators

to rise up the ranks through
the military

and eventually, through means
of a coup,

establish themselves as
dictators.

Throughout the 20th century
we've seen a number,

a huge number of dictators
who actually were, in fact,

active or retired
military officers.

(narrator)
In 1958, the 24-year-old Noriega
is a long way

from becoming an officer
in Panama's army.

But he catches a break
when he lands a scholarship

to a prestigious
military school.

He was very well-adapted
to military life

because of the kind of
intelligence he had.

He's somebody who sizes up
a situation,

see's where the best
alternative is

and very decisively goes for it.

(narrator)
After graduating in 1962,

Noriega joins the National
Guard, Panama's military force.

Months later, he's stationed in
Colon as a second lieutenant.

It's there that he meets the man

who will take him
to the brink of power,

his commanding officer,
Major Omar Torrijos.

Torrijos was an attractive,
charismatic figure,

and he was idolized by members
of the military,

and Noriega idolized him.

(narrator)
Torrijos is a populist.

His dream is to recover the
Canal for all Panamanians.

But to make it a reality,
he needs political power.

Torrijos was very ambitious,

his goal was to become
the head of the country.

(narrator)
Torrijos sees promise
in the young Noriega,

and presents him
with an opportunity.

He assigns Noriega
to the National Guard's

intelligence branch,
later known as the G2.

Noriega gets intelligence
training

at the School of the Americas,

a U.S. run military program
in the Canal Zone.

Its official goal is to instill
Democratic values

and to train its students to
fight the spread of communism,

but it also instructs them
in the use of blackmail,

coercion,
torture, and execution.

Critics call it
a school for dictators.

(John Dinges)
Noriega discovered his vocation

as an intelligence officer.

And he was described
by his course commander

as outstanding.

So Torrijos basically bet
on this young officer,

and Noriega became a very, very
effective officer for Torrijos.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
Every great leader needs
a henchman,

somebody to do the dirty work.

And Noriega was perfectly
willing to be that henchman.

Noriega was behind the scenes
eavesdropping on opponents,

repressing opponents,
cracking heads.

Over time Noriega becomes

basically the right-hand man
for Torrijos.

(narrator)
By 1968, Noriega has
helped to make Torrijos

one of Panama's most powerful
military leaders.

But Panama's National Guard

still answers
to its political leaders.

[applause]

Like the newly-elected
president, Arnulfo Arias.

Arias is worried the military's
growing political strength

could pose a threat
to his regime.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
Immediately after becoming
president

he essentially began a purge
of the National Guard.

(narrator)
Arias informs Torrijos he is
sending him to El Salvador

as a military attaché.

Without Torrijos, everything
Noriega has worked for

could be lost.

But on October 11, 1968,

Torrijos turns the tables
on Arias

by leading a military coup.

Noriega plays a key role,

by shutting down radio
and telephone stations

in the Chiriqui province,
Arias' power base.

Arias has no way to get help,

and Torrijos quickly takes
control.

[loud cheering]

(narrator)
Omar Torrijos is now Panama's
military dictator.

He quickly moves to gain consent
among Panamanians,

including many supporters
of Arnulfo Arias.

And he comes into power with
a program of land distribution,

social programs, emphasizing
education,

and basically doing things
that will appeal

to the underprivileged and
forgotten people of Panama,

this majority of the country who
had been ignored pretty much

by the businessmen who had been
running the country before.

(narrator)
Noriega reaps the benefits
when Torrijos promotes him

to Chief of Military
Intelligence, the head of G2.

The kid from
the wrong side of the tracks

is now Lieutenant Colonel
Noriega.

His new position opens up
a clearer pathway to power,

one taken by many dictators
on the rise.

Coming from an intelligence
background is

incredibly important in any kind
of dictatorship

because you know exactly
what is happening.

You know who the threats are,

and you know what to do about
those threats.

(Mariam Mufti) As a chief
intelligence officer

you are in fact also one of the
most powerful individuals.

And that is essentially the key
to Noriega's power.

(narrator)
Noriega is now the eyes and ears
of the regime,

and he uses the information
he gathers

to crush Torrijos' rivals.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
Noriega had a free hand

to do what he wanted,
and he was ruthless.

In basically cracking down on,
on the opposition.

(narrator)
Rumors circulate
about Noriega's involvement

in several disappearances,
like Héctor Gallego,

a young priest who angered
the regime in 1971

by organizing
the peasants politically.

(John Dinges)
Gallego was arrested and last
seen in military custody.

There was a report that he was
beaten up so badly

that his, his face was distorted

and that then they couldn't then
bring him back

and so they threw his body out
of a helicopter into the ocean.

His body was never found.

(narrator)
But for many, there is

little doubt who is responsible.

(Rubén
speaks Spanish)

And that's why Torrijos called
him "my gangster"

because when he had to kill
people,

he killed people-- that's no
problem.

(narrator)
But Torrijos' loyal soldier

is up to something
behind the scenes.

He's using his position for more

than just crushing
the regime's rivals.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
There is clear evidence

that Noriega's allegiance

was not necessarily to Torrijos
but to himself.

(narrator)
Noriega has developed
a clandestine relationship

that will define
his dictatorship

in the decades to come.

He has been secretly working
as a paid informant...

for the United States.

In the United States, there was
this fear

that revolution was in the air

and that it was being propagated
by Cuba.

[loud cheering]

(narrator)
Since Fidel Castro took power
in Cuba in 1959,

the U.S. has feared
that Communism

will spread all the way
up to Mexico.

Central America has become
a Cold War battleground.

[loud roar of the crowd]

And so for the United States,

the ability to gain intelligence
on these groups

was essential to fighting
the infiltration of communism

in the U.S. backyard.

(narrator)
Well-positioned
to provide intelligence

on the region's communists

Noriega becomes a U.S. spy.

It's the culmination
of a relationship

that began when he was
in military school.

(Peter Eisner)
In the '60s and '70s,

they saw him as a useful asset.

He was providing information
about student activist groups,

left-wing groups
in South America.

So they began to cultivate him
in those early years.

He was getting payments
from the CIA to operate

all of the things that
the United States needed him

to do for them, including
intelligence and wiretaps

of people all over the place.

(narrator)
By the mid 1970s Noriega is
the most important asset

the U.S. has in Central America.

But he's not just spying
on the Cubans for the U.S.,

he's spying on the U.S.
for the Cubans.

Noriega was somewhat
of a double agent, and he was

exchanging information
between the U.S. intelligence

and passing it on to the Cuban
intelligence and so forth.

Noriega relished the ability to
do intelligence operations.

He loved it; he loved the game.

(narrator)
At the height of his
intelligence game

he's selling information to
at least 10 different countries,

including Nicaragua, Israel,

Taiwan, France, and England.

Noriega manages all of this,

like the octopus
with many hands,

and it was in his own interest,

more than it was for
any ideological purpose.

(narrator)
Noriega's growing power

and influence within the nation
don't go unnoticed.

A U.S. Department of Defense
intelligence report

declares Noriega "the possible
future dictator of Panama."

Even Torrijos begins
to feel uneasy.

(Roberto Eisenmann)
Torrijos needed him

but feared him at the same time

because he felt that anytime
he might turn on him.

(narrator)
Noriega may be one of the most
powerful men in Panama,

but his situation is precarious.

[cheers & applause]

September, 1977,
Torrijos signs

an historic treaty with
U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

It guarantees that Panama
will gradually

gain control of the canal
and its revenues

over the next 22 years.

It's a huge victory
for the people,

the country, and Torrijos.

But it could mean trouble
for Noriega.

During the negotiations,

Torrijos promised to transition
to a democracy.

Noriega saw that process
of opening as dangerous.

Dangerous to the ability
of the military,

and of himself probably,
of maintaining control.

(narrator)
And Noriega's right.

Political exiles who'd been
expelled by the regime

return to Panama.

Free elections are planned.

Democracy is in the wind,

and it could spell the end
of Noriega's rise.

But on July 31, 1981,

an event occurs
that changes everything.

(narrator) Panama and its
dictatorship

are thrown into chaos

when the plane of 52-year-old
Omar Torrijos

disappears west of Panama City.

The wreckage is soon discovered
in the hills of Cerro Marta.

There are no survivors.

There has always been rumors,
never proven,

that Noriega had a hand in
Torrijos' accident.

(narrator)
But Noriega is officially
cleared of suspicion

in the tragedy.

And as Torrijos' death
is mourned

by hundreds of thousands,

the question is,
who will replace him?

Torrijos' death resulted in a
leadership vacuum.

And that vacuum had to be filled
by someone.

(narrator)
As the head of G2
and Torrijos' right-hand man,

Noriega has a wide-open path
to the leadership.

all he has to do is take it.

(Mariam Mufti)
Noriega being the chief
intelligence officer,

and having the most access to
what was going on,

the undercurrents at the time,
seized the moment

to advance his own agenda
and rise to the top himself.

(narrator)
By August, 1983,
Manuel Noriega holds

the top military position
in the country--

Commander of the National Guard.

Like Torrijos before him, he is
the country's de facto leader.

All of a sudden Noriega's the
most powerful man in Panama,

and he quoted Torrijos,

"The first duty of a man in
power is to stay in power."

(narrator)
That won't be easy.

Noriega already faces
a daunting obstacle--

Torrijos' promise to the U.S.

that Panama will hold
democratic elections.

If Noriega keeps that pledge,
he could find himself sidelined.

He needed the veneer of
democracy, he needed the country

to seem to be a civilian
dominated democracy

to avoid the opposition from
getting too much power.

(narrator)
Opposition politicians have
their own agenda.

They want to limit the power
of the military

and create
a more democratic Panama.

Noriega has a plan to keep
the opposition at bay

while he rules from the shadows,

an elected puppet president
will do his bidding.

It was going to be a democracy

under the control
of the military.

(narrator)
To pull it off Noriega needs
his puppet candidate,

Nicolas Ardito Barletta,
to win the presidency.

But on election day, 1984,
as the results start coming in,

Bartlett is losing.

And then Noriega intervenes.

60,000 opposition votes
suddenly disappear.

Barletta becomes president.

On the surface Panama appears
to be a democracy,

but Noriega holds
the real power.

Supposedly the president is
the top person in the country,

but in fact,
it's really Noriega.

(narrator)
from the start, Noriega is
a polarizing figure.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
For the opposition in Panama,
they saw him

as someone who was ruthless
in the way he gained power.

Now, for others,
his group of supporters,

he was a nationalist defender
of Panama

against the imperial U.S.
trying to dominate Panama.

(narrator)
Noriega quickly sets out

to reap the benefits
of his position.

(Mariam Mufti)
Amassing personal fortunes
for dictators

is a symbol of prestige,
of grandiosity,

and even invincibility.

That hoarding aspect of taking
and extracting revenue

and wealth from, from society,

and using it
for your own purposes,

is a hallmark of
most dictatorships.

(narrator)
In the early '80s,
Noriega sees a new way

to turn his power into money--
the drug trade.

(John Dinges)
When Torrijos is gone,
that coincides with the rise

of the drug cartels in Columbia,
1981 is really the founding

of the Medellin Cartel by
Pablo Escobar and Jorge Ochoa.

Noriega very quickly is in touch
with that network of people.

Tons of cocaine were being
produced in the jungles of Peru

and Colombia, and they needed
ways to get the material

through to the United States
or Europe or anyplace else.

(John Dinges)
Drugs begin to fly
in and out of Panama

and he starts
to make $150,000 per flight.

(narrator)
Over the next few years,

Noriega will pocket an
easy $10 million to $15 million.

And soon he's
not just running drugs,

he's running arms
for the Americans.

The Reagan administration is
arming the Contras in Nicaragua

and other anti-communist rebels
in Central America.

(John Dinges)
He's involved
in transporting arms

back and forth to the various
fighting forces

in the Central American
civil wars.

So he is now becoming
a key person

in the clandestine business
happening in central America.

(narrator)
But Noriega's schemes
don't go unnoticed.

Hugo Spadafora, a hugely popular
leftist revolutionary,

has learned of his illicit
activities.

And he's publicly
denouncing him.

[Hugo speaking Spanish]

(John Dinges)
Hugo Spadafora was
a tall, handsome,

Italian decent Panamanian,

I call him
a romantic revolutionary.

And he is going on television
saying Noriega's a dictator,

Noriega's a drug trafficker,
Noriega is repressing freedoms.

Noriega is furious.

(narrator)
Noriega is further enraged in
September, 1984,

when Spadafora takes his claim
to the opposition newspaper,

La Prensa.

it prints the story
which echoes

far beyond the borders
of Panama.

It even raises eyebrows
in the White House.

Up to now, the U.S. government
has kept a blind eye

to Noriega's drug trafficking

because of his help with
intelligence and running arms.

Now, the U.S. is forced
to at least appear

to take some action.

(John Dinges)
The United States
does make it known

that we have heard that you're
involved in drug trafficking

and that's a really,
really bad thing.

Noriega kind of salutes
and says okay, I'm out of it.

(narrator)
But Noriega's
just playing the U.S.

He merely reduces his role
in trafficking drugs.

And he discovers a way to profit
even more from the cartels--

by laundering their money
in Panamanian banks.

Steven Kalish, the leader
of a smuggling ring

that has imported hundreds of
thousands of pounds of drugs

into the U.S.,
hopes Noriega will help him

clean millions of dollars
of dirty money.

(Steven Kalish) I met Noriega,
he told me that

he thought that everything I was
looking for

I could find in Panama.

He provided me
a safe banking haven.

It allowed me to bring in
$25 million, $30 million

that had been sitting in a house
in Tampa Florida.

(narrator)
And Kalish is just
the tip of the iceberg.

Noriega hauls in
about $10 million a month

by laundering
the Cartels' money,

totaling as much as $350 million
by the early '80s.

After amassing his fortune,

Noriega has no compunction
about spending it.

He splurges on luxury cars,

mansions, and estates
all over the world.

(Steven Kalish)
He lived a lavish lifestyle.

He had very beautiful women
flown in from the U.S.

It was extremely festive.

He was fun to be around.

(Rubén Dario Paredes
speaking Spanish)

(narrator)
Noriega's the wealthiest man
in Panama.

But he still doesn't have what
he desperately wants-- respect.

[Noriega commands;
men respond]

(Peter Eisner)
If there's one thing
that he wanted

was to be seen as being
a Panamanian nationalist

in the way Omar Torrijos
was seen,

and a figure to be honored.

But he was never going to be
seen as the charismatic

swashbuckling, handsome fellow,

his physical appearance was
always a detriment to that,

and it was painful, and it
really hurt.

(narrator)
Noriega's nemesis,
Hugo Spadafora,

is everything
Noriega isn't.

And Spadafora's criticisms are
turning the people against him.

(John Dinges)
Hugo Spadafora signaled

that he was going to lead

an opposition movement
against Noriega.

(Natasha Ezrow)
Hugo Spadafora was a real
threat to his power.

And so instead of keeping him
around,

where he could foment dissent

and help civil society groups
continue

to challenge Noriega, he did
something about it.

(narrator)
September 17, 1985.

The headline in La Prensa
delivers the shocking news.

Guerilla fighter and political
leader, Hugo Spadafora,

has been murdered... he is
found in a Costa Rican river,

stuffed in a U.S. mailbag.

He was beheaded.

And it's said that beheaded
alive and tortured horribly.

You look at that photograph,

and you can't get over it
forever.

(narrator)
Spadafora was last seen
when Panamanian soldiers

took him off a bus near
the Panama/Costa Rica border.

Many suspect that Manuel Noriega
is behind the crime.

[Rubén Dario Paredes
speaking Spanish]

That was a,
a very important moment

where Noriega actually started
going downhill.

(narrator)
Panamanians are outraged
by Spadafora's murder...

80,000 attend his funeral.

And they're further inflamed

when Panamanian officials file
no charges in the case.

The press coverage
of the Spadafora incident

causes widespread unrest
among the public.

Noriega needs to find a way
to change the narrative.

(Mariam Mufti)
Dictators want to make sure
that the messaging that

is going out to the citizens
supports the dictator's agenda.

So if a free media is
relentlessly criticizing

the dictatorship, dictators
often use

the practice of preemption
to control the message.

And Noriega was really good at
that.

(John Dinges)
Noriega sent his troops in to
raid the offices of La Prensa,

to show them don't go
investigating things

that you shouldn't be
investigating.

(Roberto Eisenmann)
We were receiving death threats
on a weekly basis.

We had to make a decision.

I said go back to your families,
and talk to them tonight,

and tell them you're going to
involve yourself

in a life-threatening objective,

we're either going for it,
or we're not.

And everybody came back
and said, "Let's go."

(narrator)
Noriega's in a bind.

To keep up the semblance
of democracy

he can't completely
silence the press.

And he pays the price
in June, 1986,

when New York Times reporter,
Seymour Hersh,

publishes an exposé.

Hersh details the dictator's
illicit activities

and claims that
the U.S. knew about them,

but turned a blind eye.

(Orlando J. Pérez) The biggest
revelation of that article

was the fact that the U.S.
was complicit

in Noriega's illicit activities

well back into the 1970s.

(narrator)
The news is an embarrassment
for the Reagan administration.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
This was a drug trafficker

cooperating with drug cartels
in the midst of

the Reagan administration's
strong war on drugs.

It became shameful
for the U.S. government

to continue supporting
Noriega openly.

(narrator)
Noriega spends months currying
favor with his U.S. allies,

trying to stem the bleeding
from the Hersh article.

Noriega used my private jet to
fly to Washington DC

to meet with the director
of the CIA.

Upon his return Noriega said

with a big smile on his face
that the U.S. needed him

for assistance
in the war on drugs.

(narrator)
Noriega assists the DEA
on Operation Pisces,

a massive crackdown
on Colombian drug cartels

that results in the indictment
of kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Noriega's men arrest 40 drug
traffickers and seize millions

from money laundering accounts
in 18 Panamanian banks.

Noriega's U.S. allies
are satisfied...

but he's facing a threat

from someone on the inside
of his regime,

his second in command,
Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
Roberto Diaz Herrera

was a friend of Noriega
and a collaborator of Noriega

and Torrijos from the 1960s.

(narrator)
When Noriega first took power,

he made a deal with Herrera--

to give him a turn as leader
after 4 years.

In May, 1987, Noriega's time is
up, and Herrera wants in.

But now that Noriega's on top,

he's not
stepping down for anyone.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
Noriega as he was apt to do,

double-crossed him, and went
back on his agreement.

And basically cashiered
Diaz Herrera

to some diplomatic post.

(narrator)
But Herrera refuses
to go quietly.

He takes his story to the press

and makes some explosive claims.

He maintains that he helped
Noriega rig the 1984 election.

Even worse,
Herrera accuses Noriega

of ordering Hugo Spadafora's
murder,

and of planting a bomb
on Torrijos' plane.

[loud chanting]

Herrera's allegations trigger
mass revolt among the people.

A few days after
these revelations,

massive protests took place

in the streets of Panama City
protesting the regime.

(narrator)
Noriega arrests Herrera
for high treason,

and the angry protests
swell to 100,000 people.

It was pots and pans
and white handkerchiefs.

It was a nonviolent movement.

[horns honking; people yelling]

(narrator)
The protestors ridicule
Noriega's appearance,

calling him "Pineapple Face."

And the military dictator,
enraged, cracks down hard.

(Roberto Eisenmann)
He reacted violently,

people were jailed and tortured
and so forth,

it was quite horrible.

(narrator)
The turmoil is broadcast
all over the world.

A state of emergency
is declared.

It appears Noriega is losing
control of the country.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
The impact of the Herrera
revelations was significant

in essentially making it
even more difficult

for the U.S.
to simply look the other way.

Politically,
it was unpalatable,

untenable to give him
a free pass.

(narrator)
On June 26, 1987,

the U.S. calls for
Noriega's removal.

The administration tries
to force him to step down:

cutting Noriega from CIA
payrolls, and indicting him

for drug trafficking
and money laundering.

There was tremendous effort

to broker some sort of deal
and pressure Noriega to leave.

(narrator)
But Noriega isn't going
anywhere.

Instead, he tries to bolster
his dwindling support,

by fanning the flames
of anti-American sentiment

among his people.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
I think he believed
his own myth of invincibility.

He had survived
double-crossing the cartels,

double-crossing the CIA, and he
thought he was gonna survive.

(narrator)
But Noriega faces
another challenge

within his own borders.

May 7, 1989.

Panamanians go to the polls
to elect a new president.

[loud cheering]

(narrator) Just like in '84,

It appears the opposition is
on the verge of victory...

Until Noriega steps in

and declares his own candidate
the winner.

(John Dinges)
He just names a president.

So this is Noriega basically

throwing the pretense of
democracy out the window.

[many people yelling]

(narrator)
Panama City is engulfed in
protests against Noriega

and his regime.

[many people yelling]

(narrator)
He sends in his own
paramilitary group,

known as the Dignity Battalions,
to suppress the protestors.

They beat the opposition
vice presidential candidate

Guillermo "Billy" Ford
unmercifully.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
You have that famous picture

of Billy Ford with his blood
soaked [speaks a Spanish word].

Those images were very impactful

because the images revealed

for the world to see,
the brutality of the regime.

(narrator)
In the U.S.,

the pressure mounts
on a new President,

George H.W. Bush,
to take action.

Noriega's become less useful
to the U.S.,

and Bush is worried about

the thousands
of American citizens

who still live
in the Canal Zone.

Bush makes a public demand
for Noriega's resignation.

But Noriega isn't listening.

[applause & cheers;
Noriega speaks Spanish]

The U.S. government
pushed him over the edge,

and he felt betrayed.

I think he reached a tipping
point, he actually broke.

He was no longer really
in control of his emotions.

(narrator)
Seven months
after President Bush

orders Noreiga's resignation,

his regime condemns
the superpower

for "insulting
Panama's sovereignty

and territorial integrity."

Noriega said that a state of war
was developing

between the two countries.

(narrator)
He's thumbing his nose
at the U.S.

and seems to think
he can get away with it.

He played
a very high-stakes game,

in which he defied
the U.S. government.

[yelling in Spanish]

There was a saying
that the United States is

like a monkey on a chain--
you can play with the monkey

but don't pull
the chain too hard,

because the monkey's
going to bite you.

(narrator)
Noriega's threatening behavior

has the 40,000 Americans
living in Panama on edge.

On December 16, 1989, the
tensions finally boil over.

A Panamanian officer
fires on an American car

when it runs
a military checkpoint,

and a U.S. marine is killed.

[Rubén Dario Paredes
speaks Spanish]

I will protect the lives
of Americans in Panama,

whether they're military
or civilian.

We will not let Americans' lives

be put at risk
by a dictator down here.

(narrator)
December 20, 1989.

U.S. troops
storm Panama City.

Their mission-- secure
the safety of Americans

and take down Manuel Noriega.

[loud explosion]

[gunfire; people screaming]

(Orlando J. Pérez)
The machete wielding

you know, El Man,
who had defied the U.S.,

for so many years,
basically goes into hiding.

(Roberto Eisenmann)
He did not issue

one military order-- not one.

He just ran and ran and ran.

That says a lot about bullies.

All bullies are
basically cowards.

(narrator)
After resisting U.S. forces
on its own for 4 days,

the Panamanian Army, vastly
outnumbered, is defeated.

The American invasion
has left more than

a thousand Panamanians,
soldiers and civilians, dead.

20,000 are homeless.

And Noriega is still on the run.

On Christmas Eve,
he finds desperate refuge

in Panama City's
Vatican Embassy.

He believed the Vatican Embassy
might provide safe haven

to allow him to get out
into exile someplace.

(narrator)
U.S. forces are
quickly tipped off,

but Noriega refuses
to surrender.

Outside, protesters
call for his head,

taunting him with chants
of "Pineapple Face!"

[loud chanting]

(narrator)
January 3, 1990.

Panama's military dictator
surrenders to the U.S.,

but with one condition.

(John Dinges)
He wanted to surrender
in uniform,

but the United States then did

something that was
very humiliating.

As soon as Noriega was arrested,

they made him take off
his uniform

and they took a picture of him
with a wrinkled T-shirt,

Noriega looking like
a common criminal.

And that was the picture that
they put out around the world

to show that Noriega
was in custody.

(narrator)
After a tumultuous 6 years
as Panama's dictator,

the boy born with nothing
who once had everything,

has just lost it all.

(Natasha Ezrow)
Noriega was incredibly greedy.

He was not only corrupted
by power,

but he was also corrupted
by greed.

And that ended up
being his downfall.

(narrator)
In 1992, in Miami, Florida,

Manuel Noriega is convicted
of drug trafficking,

racketeering,
and money laundering.

He's sentenced to 40 years
in prison.

[crowd yelling]

(narrator)
Panamanians rejoice
in the streets.

Noriega spends 25 years
in custody

in the U.S., France,
and in the end... Panama.

In 2017, he dies
at the age of 83.

(narrator)
At the height of his power
Noriega had amassed a fortune

estimated at $600 million.

Today, while his estates
are crumbling,

his country is rebuilding.

(John Dinges)
Panama got the canal back
in 1999

and they've run it very
successfully, very competently.

Panama has become
very, very prosperous.

(narrator)
The country has held
free elections with mostly

stable democratic governments
since Noriega's arrest.

The abuses of his rule

have resulted in a landmark
constitutional change:

the abolition
of the country's military.

(Orlando J. Pérez)
That has been instrumental

to democratic civilian control.

The idea of a coup these days
is very far-fetched.

[Rubén Dario Paredes
speaks in Spanish]

(narra

(man) To order "The Dictator's
Playbook" on DVD,

visit shopPBS.org

or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

This program is also available

on Amazon Prime Video.

[synthesizer fanfare]