Write a commentWalter LaFeber used a 1950 memorandum by George Kennan to reveal a dark truth about U.S. foreign policy in Central America: "The final answer must be an unpleasant one, but...we should not hesitate before police repression by the local government."
The U.S. policy of supporting repressive foreign governments in Latin America explained U.S. foreign policy actions in the 1980s.
The U.S. government supported the Anastasio Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua, the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, the Mobutu dictatorship in the Congo, the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti, et al. The U.S. government also supported Saddam Hussein throughout the 80s. However, one of the notable stories from the 1980s is how the U.S. government went from supporting the dictator of Panama (Manuel Noriega) to overthrowing him.
The day of the U.S. Invasion of Panama, Peter Jennings from ABC told viewers, "Let's remember that the United States was very close to Mr. Noriega before the whole question of drugs came up." However, Jennings forgot to add that the U.S. government's relationship with the dictator was much deeper than that.
The Guardian wrote, "Noriega was recruited as a CIA informant while studying at a military academy in Peru. He received intelligence and counterintelligence training at the School of the Americas... as well as a course in psychological operations at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was to remain on the CIA payroll until February 1988."
The Boston Globe confirmed, "Bush himself reinstated Noriega after President Reagan took office. 'Bush ... became vice president and met with Noriega and put him back-on the (CIA) payroll.'" The Guardian wrote, "A paid CIA collaborator since the early 1970s, Noriega at first worked closely with Washington, allowing U.S. forces to set up listening posts in Panama, and use the country to funnel aid to pro-American forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua."
When the U.S. invaded Panama in December 1989, the propaganda Washington disseminated was partly true. President Manuel Noriega was trafficking drugs. Truthout added the missing context. "Most of the allegations were true, and they had all been willingly supported by the U.S. government while Noriega was a CIA asset receiving more than $100,000 per year."
The U.S. invaded Panama anyways – dubbed Operation Just Cause. It was the largest US combat operation since the Vietnam War. U.S. forces bombed civilian neighborhoods. Panamanians of the neighbourhood of El Chorillo referred to the pulverized city as "Little Hiroshima". It's estimated that the U.S. invasion killed 3,000 Panamanians.
The U.S. invasion and occupation of Panama allows students of history to draw a direct line from Panama in 1989 to Venezuela in 2025. President Trump recently announced the "Trump Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine. Or as then Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, described the Monroe Doctrine, "The U.S. considers its own interests."
The Financial Times reported, "US defence secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to 'restore US military dominance' in the Western hemisphere." The War Department will forget democracy building. The US prioritizes "U.S. business and corporate interests." Washington will spend taxpayer money to break international law and sow destruction in Latin America.
Kindly,
Anton Porcari
