US invasion of Panama

In the early morning of December 20, 1989, US forces began Operation Just Cause, striking Panama Defense Forces bases and Panama City. About 27,000 US troops took part. Noriega's government fell within days, and Guillermo Endara, who had won the May 1989 election that Noriega annulled, was sworn in at a US base. Noriega took refuge in the Vatican's embassy, and surrendered on January 3, 1990. US forces played loud rock music near the nunciature during the standoff.¹²

Manuel Noriega had been Panama's strongman since 1983 and had worked with US intelligence, but he was also accused of drug trafficking and of dealing with US enemies. He was indicted in Florida in 1988. Tension rose after his government annulled the May 1989 election, and on December 16 a US Marine was shot at a checkpoint. President George H. W. Bush cited threats to US citizens, the canal treaties, democracy and drug trafficking. Under the 1977 treaties the US was to hand over the canal in 1999.¹²

Twenty-three US service members died. Panamanian military and civilian deaths are disputed; estimates run from a few hundred to a few thousand. The UN General Assembly condemned the invasion by a vote of 75 to 20. Noriega was convicted in the US in 1992 and sentenced to 40 years, later reduced; he was extradited to France and then Panama, where he died in 2017. Panama abolished its army in 1994, and the canal passed to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.¹²