PANAMA’S Former Military dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega who precipitated  the 1989 US invasion  that claimed the lives of untold numbers of his fellow countrymen and women, died Monday night, May 29, aged 83

La Estrella  says he died without the forgiveness of a people  still divided over his response to the invasion, some blaming him  for not facing it as  the general he  was and others for not giving up in time to avoid the most serious aggression suffered by the country.

His physical disappearance in recent months derailed the debate over  whether he should be granted the house arrest his family applied for in view of his advanced age and the physical ailments of an 83-year-old man.

Brain surgery
His brain surgery, for a non malignant tumor  on March 7, was interpreted as a strategy to allow, him to spend his last days in the company of his daughters, but  turned out to be a fatal intervention from which he did not recover.

[caption id="attachment_63078" align="alignleft" width="300"] Noriega at El Renacer[/caption]

His doctors had  recommended his temporary release to prepare for the operation  and it was granted last January, including  a period of postoperative recovery, also out of jail.

Noriega had been held at the El Renacer penitentiary, a former US jail, since 2011, when he was extradited from France, where he had been  sentenced to seven years in prison for money laundering, and a fine of one million euros to be paid to the Panamanian State.

[caption id="attachment_48529" align="alignright" width="206"] Jailed in Miami[/caption]

He had previously been jailed in Miami, where he was tried and convicted after being captured in the invasion He was convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering, and received a 40 year sentence which with remissions was reduced to 20..

In Panama he was facing sentences of up to 60 years for murder but never appeared in court.

His twisted path to power began in 197O when he supported  the return to the country of the newly proclaimed leader  Omar Torrijos, organizer of a 1968 military coup. That loyalty made him indispensable and  he was made responsible for the regime’s security.

Some versions point to his involvement  in the apparent accident that killed Torrijos.

[caption id="attachment_71868" align="alignright" width="213"] Agent for Castro and CIA[/caption]

The death left him in the front line to become a general, after dispensing with the retirement or forced removal of those ahead of him in the hierarchy, including Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera, cousin of Torrijos.

After being exiled  Herrera  ended up revealing the sins of Noriega, including being a  double agent spying for Cuba and the CIA, and links to  the Colombian drug cartels. He was also accused of  the  beheading death of  medical doctor Hugo Spadafora and the Columbian priest Héctor Gallego.

[caption id="attachment_71867" align="alignleft" width="275"] Repression on the streets[/caption]

Growing opposition
The  statements exacerbated opposition to an increasingly deteriorating  military regime, which no longer followed  the dictatorial "torrijista"  path, popular for its anti-imperialist struggle.

Drunk with  power, Noriega, who was lampooned as "pineapple" face and began to lose the self-control he always displayed, along with the alliances that supported him in Washington, Europe and Israel.

Supported by his more radical group of followers, Noriega contravened the constitution, overturned an election and was proclaimed head of state in 1989.

Machete in hand  he declared war on the USA. The invasion followed.

But the "strong man" of the Defense Forces of Panama did not face the US military intervention Instead as his troops fought and died he sought refuge in homes of friends and collaborators (some say that he hid under the skirts of a lover) and finally fled to the Vatican emmissary’s residence, which he left as a prisoner.

His only gesture of repentance, was on June 25, 2015, when he read a statement in front of television cameras. It  failed to convince and closed the doors for a possible humanitarian deal.