United States Invasion of Panama (1991)

United States Invasion of Panama (1991). Hillsborough County Veterans Memorial Park. , The United States Invasion of Panama, code-named Operation Just Cause, was the invasion of Panama by the United States in December 1989. It occurred during the administration of U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and ten years after the Torrijos-Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama by January 1, 2000 , , During the invasion, de facto Panamanian leader, general, and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed by president-elect Guillermo Endara sworn into office, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved. The United States long maintained numerous military bases and a substantial garrison throughout the Canal Zone to protect the American owned Panama Canal,. On September 7, 1977 President of the United States Jimmy Carter and the de facto leader of Panama, General Omar Torrijos, signed Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which set in motion the process of handing over the Panama Canal to Panamanian control by the year 2000. Although the canal was destined for Panamanian administration, the military bases remained and one condition of the transfer was that the canal would remain open for American shipping. Meanwhile, the U.S. had long standing relations with General Noriega. Noriega served as a U.S. intelligence asset and paid informant of the Central Intelligence Agency since 1968 including when Bush was head of the CIA (1976-77). , , Noriega had sided with the U.S. rather than the USSR in Central America, notably in sabotaging the forces of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, and the revolutionaries of the Farabundo up in El Salvador. Noriega received upwards of $100,000 per year from the 1960s until the 1980s, when his salary was reportedly $203.000 per year, for his loyalty and efforts against the much better-funded, Soviet-backed group. Although he worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration to restrict illegal drug shipments, he was known to simultaneously accept significant financial funds from the drug dealers [6] because he facilitated the laundering of drug money, and through Noriega’s acceptance of funds from DEA investigations showed a special link with the CIA. , , The U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marines participated in Operation Just Cause. Ground forces consisted of combat forces from the XVIII Airborne Company, 82 Airborne Division, 7th Infantry Division (Light), the 75th Ranger Regiment, a large contingent of Special Operations Units, elements of the 5th and 4th Battalion, 6th United States Infantry (Replacing the 1/61st in September), 1138th Military Police, the Missouri Army National Guard, 193rd Infantry Brigade, 508th Infantry Regiment, the 59th Engineer Battalion, Marine Security Forces Battalion Panama and elements from the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Marine Fleet Antiterrorism Teams, 2nd Armored Infantry Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, 39th Combat Engineer Btn, Charlie Co. , , Noriega finally surrendered to the U.S military on January 3, 1990. He was immediately put on an MC-130E Combat Talon I aircraft and flown to the U.S. , , While some U.S. Marine units continued their deployment, others that had been deployed since October 3, 1989, began returning on January 12, 1990.