A forgotten invasion, a forgotten dictator

I have another piece at Al Jazeera. This time it is on the return of Manuel Noriega to Panama. I wrote it about ten days ago so it seems a bit outdated. However, yesterday was the anniversary of the start of the US invasion of Panama in 1989.


Here's the end of "A forgotten invasion, a forgotten dictator."

Guillermo Sanchez Borbon, co-author of a Noriega biography, said that, "We Panamanians are the kind of people to make a fuss for a couple of days and then move on." For the most part, Noriega no longer stirs up strong emotions among the people of Panama.

And what are we to do here in the US? Most students in my Latin American Politics course this semester were born after the invasion of Panama. Most admitted that this was the first time that they had ever heard of the invasion and Manuel Noriega. I would venture to guess that they are not alone. Few Americans know very much about our country's relationship with Noriega pre-invasion, the 1989 invasion itself, or his 20 years in a Miami prison.

After a flurry of news articles this week in the US, we are unlikely to hear anything else of the man and the country he once ruled until he passes from this earth. Like the people of Panama, the US can move on.