Noriega back in Panama to serve sentence
Former dictator returned to home country
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Drug Enforcement AdministrationGen. Manuel Noriega is escorted onto a U.S. Air Force plane by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in January 1990.
Former military dictator Manuel Noriega is heading to jail back home in Panama.
The onetime ruler had been serving time in a French prison, and before that in the United States for drug trafficking and money laundering.
While he was serving time over there, Noriega was convicted of killing two political opponents during his rule.
Technically, he has been sentenced to serve 40 years — 20 years for each death. But at 77, he may not make it through. And Panama has a law that allows people over 70 to finish their time under house arrest.
It's an anti-climatic end for Noriega. While in the military in the 1970s and 1980s, Noriega worked closely with the CIA to target leftist movements in the region.
He also started working with drug cartels to smuggle cocaine to the United States. He ruled Panama as the de facto leader from 1983-1989. It was a short period, but within that time he managed to essentially transform his country into a drug-trafficking hub.
He was finally ousted in a U.S. invasion, back in the days when the United States played a close political game in the region.
Listening to Panamanians talk about him, though, it seems that some in the country have moved on.
"This man has paid for his crimes, and it looks like he can hardly walk anymore," said retiree Hildaura Velasco, 67. "If he dies in prison, or at home, what does it matter?"
For his part, Noreiga is glad to be going home, his lawyers said. "He's very happy."
This article originally appeared on GlobalPost.
