Facts On File News Services
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Issue Date: December 22, 1989
U.S. Forces Invade Panama, Seize Wide Control; Noriega Eludes Capture
New Government Sworn
Events Leading Up to the Attack
Bush Justifies Invasion
Congressional Response
Move Draws Foreign Condemnation
New Government Sworn
U.S. President Bush dispatched American troops to Panama in the early morning hours of December 20 in an effort to
overthrow the government of Panamanian military strongman General Manuel Antonio Noriega. U.S. forces succeeded in
capturing major sites around Panama City, but Noriega himself--a key target of the attack--eluded capture.
The invasion was generally applauded in the U.S. and condemned abroad. It capped a six-day period of growing tensions
between Panama and the U.S.
The intervention, dubbed Operation Just Cause, was the largest U.S. military operation since the Vietnam War. A total of
some 12,000 Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine troops were sent from the U.S. to join another 12,000 American military
personnel already stationed in Panama.
Shortly before the assault was launched at 1:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, an alternative Panamanian government,
headed by President Guillermo Endara and Vice Presidents Guillermo Ford and Ricardo Arias Calderon, was sworn into
office by a Panamanian judge at a U.S. military base. The U.S. immediately recognized the Endara government as the
legitimate leadership of Panama.
(Endara was widely believed to have won an election for president in May by a large margin, but Noriega had refused to
accept the result and had annulled the vote. [See 1989 Panama Election Voided Amid Charges of Government Fraud,
Foreign Intervention; U.S. Beefs Up Military Presence; Other Developments])
The invasion force consisted of five task forces, each of which was responsible for securing several targets. In some of the
heaviest fighting, one task force seized control of the Comandancia--the headquarters of Noriega's Panama Defense
Forces (PDF).
A second task force parachuted to the ground near the PDF barracks at Rio Hato and neutralized a PDF unit that had been
instrumental in rescuing Noriega during a coup attempt in October. [See 1989 Panamanian Military Coup Attempt Fails to
Oust Noriega; Passive U.S. Response Scored; Other Developments]
A third force seized a prison at Gamboa and released PDF prisoners who had been jailed for taking part in the failed coup.
The remaining task forces attacked and seized control of key military and strategic locations in and around Panama City,
including Torrijos International Airport and the Bridge of the Americas, and secured the safety of U.S. military installations.
However, Noriega himself eluded capture by U.S. forces. U.S. General Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said December 20 that the U.S. did not know where Noriega was, but he insisted that "we have decapitated him from the
dictatorship of this country, and he is now a fugitive and will be treated as such." Other U.S. officials said they believed
Noriega was still in Panama.
The Associated Press reported that brief remarks by Noriega had been broadcast on the national radio. The Panamanian
leader appealed to his countrymen to "win or die" in their resistance to the invasion. The station went off the air shortly
thereafter, when the building in which it was located was attacked by U.S. forces.
The U.S. December 20 posted a $1 million reward for information leading to Noriega's capture.
In order to insure that ships passing through the Panama Canal would not be fired on, U.S. troops shut down operations for
the first time in the canal's 75-year history. The canal reopened December 21.
Lieutenant General Thomas W. Kelly, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared December 20 that the U.S.
forces had achieved their immediate goal of breaking the PDF as a fighting force. He noted, however, that scattered
pockets of resistance remained and that violent "Dignity Battalions" of armed civilians organized by Noriega continued to
roam the streets of Panama City. There were also widespread reports of looting in the capital.
As of December 21, Pentagon officials said that 22 Americans had been killed and 208 wounded. Four were said to be
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missing. There were also reports that several American civilians had been taken hostage in Panama City.
U.S. officials gave no figures on Panamanian casualties, although they expressed concern that the civilian toll could be high
in areas where fighting occurred. Unofficial reports indicated that the Panamanian casualty toll might be in the hundreds.
Witnesses reported seeing widespread fires and destruction in poor neighborhoods around the capital.
Early news accounts were sketchy, because most reporters had difficulty getting into Panama under a so-called pool
arrangement that had been set up by the Pentagon in 1984 to ensure media coverage in combat zones. [See 1984
Defense: War Zone Media Pool Designated]
A Defense Department spokesman admitted December 21 that the pool had gotten off to a "disappointing" start, and he
blamed "incompetence" on the part of U.S. military commanders in Panama.
Events Leading Up to the Attack
The six days preceding the invasion had seen an escalation in the conflict between Noriega and the U.S.
On December 15, Panama's National Assembly of Representatives, a 510-member body appointed by Noriega in October,
unanimously voted to formalize the general's position by naming him head of government and "maximum leader of the
struggle for national liberation."
The assembly also approved a resolution stating that "the Republic of Panama is declared to be in a state of war" with the
U.S. as long as U.S. "aggression," in the form of economic sanctions imposed in 1988, continued. U.S. officials
subsequently referred to the resolution as a declaration of war against the U.S. But pro-Noriega Panamanians said it was
merely a description of the state of affairs brought about by Washington's actions. [See 1988 U.S. Troops Sent to Panama
To Protect Military Bases; Move Follows Crackdown on Opposition; Other Developments]
The following day, December 16, four unarmed, off-duty U.S. servicemen traveling in a private car were stopped at a
roadblock outside PDF headquarters in Panama City. After being surrounded by a crowd of civilians and PDF troops, the
Americans attempted to drive away, but the PDF soldiers opened fire. One U.S. officer, identified later by the Pentagon as
Marine Lieutenant Robert Paz, 25, was killed.
(According to the U.S. account, the servicemen had gotten lost. The PDF claimed the Americans were armed and on a
reconnaissance mission.)
An unidentified Navy lieutenant and his wife who had reportedly witnessed the shooting were taken into custody by the PDF
and interrogated for about four hours. The Navy officer was said to have been beaten and his wife sexually threatened
before they were released.
Following the incidents, U.S. troops December 17 were placed on "delta" alert, the second-highest alert level under a new
system instituted after the failed coup attempt against Noriega in October.
In a subsequent confrontation, on December 18, a U.S. officer shot and wounded a PDF corporal near a U.S. installation.
The American said he had felt "threatened" after the PDF soldier approached him and appeared to reach for his gun.
Bush December 18 called the killing of the Marine officer "an enormous outrage" and he prompted speculation about a
possible military intervention by refusing to answer questions about his planned response. "All presidents have options," he
said. "But they don't discuss what they might be."
Although the Bush administration had initially played down the December 15 declaration of a "state of war" by the
Panamanian assembly, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said December 18 that in the wake of the three incidents,
the declaration "may have been a license for harassment and threats."
Bush Justifies Invasion
President Bush gave a televised address to the nation at 7:00 a.m. December 20 and explained his reasons for invading
Panama.
"For nearly two years, the United States, nations of Latin America and the Caribbean have worked together to resolve the
crisis in Panama," Bush said. "The goals of the United States have been to safeguard the lives of Americans, to defend
democracy in Panama, to combat drug trafficking and to protect the integrity of the Panama Canal Treaty. Many attempts
have been made to resolve this crisis through diplomacy and negotiations. All were rejected by the dictator of Panama,
General Manuel Noriega, an indicted drug trafficker.
"Last Friday, Noriega declared his military dictatorship to be in a state of war with the United States and publicly threatened
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the lives of Americans in Panama. The very next day forces under his command shot and killed an unarmed American
serviceman, wounded another, arrested and brutally beat a third American serviceman and then brutally interrogated his
wife, threatening her with sexual abuse. That was enough.
"General Noriega's reckless threats and attacks upon Americans in Panama created an imminent danger to the 35,000
American citizens in Panama. As president, I have no higher obligation than to safeguard the lives of American citizens.
And that is why I directed our armed forces to protect the lives of American citizens in Panama, and to bring General
Noriega to justice in the United States."
Bush also announced that he was lifting the economic sanctions against Panama that had been imposed in 1988 as part of
the U.S.'s effort to force Noriega from power.
U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker 3rd December 20 told reporters that Bush had decided to act after receiving an
intelligence report that Noriega "was considering launching an urban commando attack on American citizens" in Panama.
"If the president had failed to act as he did, and Noriega's Dignity Battalions had killed or terrorized American families in
Panama, you would be asking us today, 'Why didn't you act to prevent this kind of violence against our citizens?'" Baker
said.
A spokesman for Attorney General Richard L. Thornburgh December 20 offered the administration's legal justification for
the attack. He said the U.S. had acted in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognized the
"inherent right of self defense"; Article 21 of the Organization of American States treaty, which permitted the U.S.
government to protect its citizens, military installations and institutions; and the Panama Canal Treaty, which empowered
the U.S. to protect and defend the canal.
However, several international legal experts said the Bush administration had not interpreted the three documents properly
in claiming them as legal justification for the invasion. "It is quite clear under international law that self-defense provisions in
the OAS and U.N. charters are limited to an actual threat to a country itself," said David Cole, a lawyer for the Center for
Constitutional Rights, which had opposed U.S. policy in Central America.
Most news accounts pointed out that Bush had been under considerable pressure to take action against Noriega in the
wake of the U.S.'s failure to intervene in the unsuccessful coup attempt by members of the PDF in October. [See 1989
Bush Administration: President Holds News Conference]
Plans for an invasion of Panama had reportedly been crafted in secret by the Joint Chiefs of Staff some time earlier. They
represented one of several options presented to Bush by Powell at a policy planning meeting December 17. Bush was said
to have selected the invasion option that day, and detailed plans were then drawn up December 18-19.
Congressional Response
Bush had briefed Congressional leaders about the planned invasion December 20, and most members of Congress backed
the decision.
"I support the president's decision," said Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D, Maine) December 20. "It was made
necessary by the reckless actions of General Noriega."
House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D, Washington) also backed the invasion, saying that Bush had made a "convincing
argument" for military intervention.
Some politicians pointed out, however, that American public support for the invasion could wane if U.S. troops remained in
Panama for a substantial length of time. "I don't want to be an occupying force in Panama," said Senate Minority Leader
Robert Dole (R, Kansas). "I hope we could complete our action and withdraw. . . . We don't want to appear to be the ugly
American."
A few members of Congress, all of them Democrats, did express strong reservations, however. "Personally, until very clear
evidence emerges of a direct threat against the Panama Canal or against American people or installations, I would not have
engaged in such unilateral or such go-it-alone action," said Senator Claiborne Pell (D, Rhode Island), the chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee.
Representative Don Edwards (D, California) charged that the attack "appears to be a trigger-happy act of gunboat
diplomacy that continues our mindless 100-year abuse of small Central American nations."
Move Draws Foreign Condemnation
Governments throughout Central and South America condemned the U.S. invasion December 20.
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Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government called the invasion "a serious threat to Nicaragua" and placed its troops on "a
state of general fighting alert."
Peruvian President Alan Garcia, a strong critic of Noriega, announced that he was withdrawing Peru's ambassador to the
U.S. until American troops were withdrawn from Panama.
One of the mildest statements was issued by Mexico, whose government said it "publicly censured the conduct of Mr.
Manuel Antonio Noriega, and reiterated the need of radically facing the problem of drug smuggling."
Nevertheless, the statement said, "The combat of international crimes cannot be a motive for intervening in a sovereign
nation," and it declared, "The Panamanian crisis must be resolved only by the Panamanian people."
Criticism of the U.S. invasion also came from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Venezuela.
At a special meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., Nicaragua December 20 sought to
introduce a resolution condemning the U.S. action and calling for immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops. However,
ambassadors from other nations put off discussion of the proposal, claiming they lacked instructions from their
governments.
Earlier in the day, the OAS council had met to decide whether to seat an ambassador representing Noriega's government or
Endara's government. Following a closed-door discussion, the council agreed to accept Noriega's representative, Jose
Maria Cabrera.
The United Nations Security Council faced a similar dilemma December 20, but put off making a decision. A meeting of
nonaligned nations accepted Noriega's representative, however.
Strong criticism also came from lower-ranking Soviet officials, although top officials refrained from commenting immediately.
Pointing out that the U.S. action could be used by Soviet conservatives to justify a continued military build-up, Georgi A.
Arbatov, one of the top Soviet experts on the U.S., said, "The Americans could not have done a better thing for our militaryindustrial complex than to commit aggression in Panama. . . . It's a sad return to the days of gunboat diplomacy that I
thought had passed."
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was almost alone in voicing strong support for the U.S. move.
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