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Manuel Noriega, former dictator of Panama, dies at age 83
PANAMA CITY, Panama -- Manuel Noriega, the dictator who ruled Panama from 1983 until being forcibly removed by the United States in 1989, has died at the age of 83, it was announced early Tuesday morning.
Panama President Juan Carlos Varela made the announcement on Twitter, according to the New York Times.
Noriega had brain hemorrhaging after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor. He had been in a medically induced coma since March, reports say.
According to the BBC, Noriega was once a key ally with the United States. However, he was removed from power in 1989 by U.S. forces and later served time in prison on convictions for drug and money laundering charges.
He served 17 years in prison in the U.S., then returned to Panama in 2011 to serve sentences after being convicted on murder, corruption and embezzlement charges in France and Panama.
The effort to remove Noriega in 1989 was the largest U.S. military operation since the Vietnam War, the Times reports.
Noriega was a brash dictator, according to reports, living a lavish lifestyle on money from drug sales and was known to wave a machete while making speeches.
PANAMA CITY, Panama -- Manuel Noriega, the dictator who ruled Panama from 1983 until being forcibly removed by the United States in 1989, has died at the age of 83, it was announced early Tuesday morning.
Panama President Juan Carlos Varela made the announcement on Twitter, according to the New York Times.
Noriega had brain hemorrhaging after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor. He had been in a medically induced coma since March, reports say.
According to the BBC, Noriega was once a key ally with the United States. However, he was removed from power in 1989 by U.S. forces and later served time in prison on convictions for drug and money laundering charges.
He served 17 years in prison in the U.S., then returned to Panama in 2011 to serve sentences after being convicted on murder, corruption and embezzlement charges in France and Panama.
The effort to remove Noriega in 1989 was the largest U.S. military operation since the Vietnam War, the Times reports.
Noriega was a brash dictator, according to reports, living a lavish lifestyle on money from drug sales and was known to wave a machete while making speeches.
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