This book is of interest because it tells another side of the story of Panama in the 80's. There's a lot of interesting information here. But while I find it almost unavoidable to conclude that American intervention in Panama was guided as much by political expediency and diplomatic incompetence as it was by noble ideals, that doesn't imply Noriega was clean. Sure, Bush, Cheney, Oliver North, Eliot Abrams, etc. were all crooked politicians. But Noriega's portrayal as himself as simply a Panamanian patriot who was destroyed by the USA for standing up to them doesn't hold water. Many controversial aspects of Noriega's reign are not mentioned (Noriega's superstition or alcohol abuse), glossed over (Spadafora killing) or implausibly denied (the fate of the Giroldi coup plotters). He very seldom admits mistakes and even then only half-heartedly ("We should have just cancelled the elections outright instead of waiting until the results were in to anull them") and never shows a trace of regret. The subject of democracy seldom comes up; all opposition to Noriega is characterized simply as the white power elite ("rabiblancos") and their status as pawns of the USA.

In short, the book is disappointing as it appears Noriega has not used his time in jail for serious, thoughtful introspection and analysis. It's not a truthful confession, or even an intersting autobiography; it's basically a defensive essay on the American invasion of 1989. Still it's worth reading as no doubt some of his accusations against the "wimp" Bush bear examination.

I have to admit the book is rather enjoyable to read, incredibly interesting and hard to put down. Noriega comes across as very charismatic, but thats how Eisner intended to write him up. While one might see that there was some erroneous CIA propaganda in the whole Panamanian-Noriega Affair, it isn't nearly as prevalent as Noriega would have you believe. The CIA's timing is suspect, but what better time to air out the bad laundry of a drug-dealing dictator than when you want to bring him down. Moreover, Manuel Noreiga and Eisner are no less apt to making propaganda of their own. The Panamanian demagogue would have you believe he is wholly a victim of the evil American imperial capitalists. Eisner more or less tries to portray poor Noriega as the hapless and 'innocent' victim of American imperialism. Noriega, the pox-marked dictator, derided as "Pineapple Face" by his detractors, may never have amassed the massive fortune alleged by the CIA... but he was on the take so to speak. He has always been for sale to the highest bidder whether the Medellin drug cartel or the CIA. Since his early days as a CIA spy, he was selling out intel on his fellow students at a Peruvian Military Academy in the 1950's. Noriega mastered the art of double-dealing... and can fairly be described as a double-agent, if not a "triple" or "quadruple" agent. He was taking payoffs from drug dealers (as most politicians in the region do) and this isn't just CIA propaganda. He essentially crossed Bush one time to many... making one too many overtures to the Sandinistas and the Soviets. Bush Senior pulled the Potomac two-step on Noriega and Noriega reaped the whirlwind for having asked for a divorce. Regardless of what you think about the Panamanian intervention in 1989, Noriega isn't the "patron saint of Panama" that he'd have you believe he is. Nonetheless, I find his biography too be very intriguing.

If you care about Central American politics, you might like "A Twillight Struggle" by Robert Kagan.

Manuel Noriega, with Peter Eisner, wrote his memoirs. He presents strong and well structured arguments regarding his personal involvement with the U.S. government, his role as head of the former Pananamaian Defense Forces (PDF), Central America, and just to name a few highlights. Many Americans, no doubt, succumb to the persuasive power of what I call "gentle propaganda." This is the process of making a lie credible and making what is credible a lie. It is twisted in half truths, outright lies, or from total imagination.

Noriega's 30 years service to the U.S. is a big deal. He strongly believes he has been betrayed by the U.S. Why would he deny this? Because he is sitting in one of our jails. And, naturally, just as people would believe most, if not all, of what they read in the daily newspapers, people are "self deceived" into believing what they want to believe.

No, I don't champion Noriega. I am on the side of justice and in search of the truth. What I have found have been lies twisted with some "degree" of truth. The problem with this twisted formula is that the truth cannot and should not be twisted in any shape or form. Therefore, one must draw, intelligently, what is the truth from what is a lie. Panama, in a sense, became a nation-state of the U.S. to serve U.S. interests not only in Panama but throughout the region. This relationship dates back to when Panama wanted to secede from Colombia. Panama joined, not Colombia, but Gran Granada (Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela)and after inter-party conflicts, the liberal party at the time sought complete independence from Colombia. The U.S. ignored Panama's plea's for nation-statehood, until it saw the canal and its geopolitical importance.

The United States involvement in Panama goes back to the Monroe Doctrine (1823) and several treaties that followed with regards to the construction of an isthmian canal in which the U.S. would be sole owners. The U.S. also engineered a revolution between Panama and Colombia in order to take sides (Panama) and get a foothood in the region. Also, there have been over 20 interventions against Panama by the U.S.; this dates back to not only the Monroe Doctrine but to an extensive history of gunboat diplomacy against Panama.

Noriega may have been involved in drug trafficking, we may never really know for sure how much is the truth. The US military propaganda machinery toppled Noriega, destroyed the PDF, killed thousands of Panamanians and others, lied to U.S. citizens and the international community of what really happended on this dreadful day in Panama. In closing I will only say this: Noriega has arguments that are credible enough to warrant further research for the truth. He may have been involved in crimes, such as murder or drug trafficking, something we may "never prove." ...

Noriega, without question, is a Panamanian nationalist. He is proud to be Panamanian, just like we are proud to be Americans.

Also, what in the world was a power like the U.S. thinking when it invaded such a small and defenseless country like Panama?
The truth, in part, is that Noriega started to flex in "inflexiblity" towards U.S. policy in Panama. The military bases were a big foreign policy issue, so was the Panama canal, and, also pressing was the U.S. role in the region and the rest of Latin America.

Let us look deep within our consciences and search for the truth, we may end up scaring ourselves with what we may find.

I know several of the characters in Harris' book, and he has invented a lot of their colorful talk and dress. In just one example Raymond Takiff ("Roy" in the index!) was from West Philadelphia, Overbrook Park, just south of the Main Line, not South Philadelphia. Harris makes Takiff, a Villanova graduate and former history teacher who considered himself an intellectual, sound like a cheap South Philly hoodlum. Takiff was a snappy dresser, in the South Florida style (Silk, please, not Rayon!), and the scene with the shorts and brogans was a grotesque invention. Harris also misspells Takiff's daughter's name! Most details on the other lawyers involved are also highly imaginary. As an indication of the sloppy job Harris did, he misses some colorful items, too, such as Takiff maneuvering the judge in the trial of the 91 year old woman accused of cocaine possession into helping the defendant out of the witness stand!
No wonder a number of the characters in this book are not named, or personal background and color is missing. Since Ray Takiff is dead he couldn't defend himself but I'd guess that some legal threats were involved with many of those in this book, and the publishers took the names and/or details out when they were unable to verify all the "facts".
The large percentage of mistakes on items I have personal knowledge of are a likely indication that the error level in this book is pretty high. Not a trustworthy source of information.

this book would be better sub-titled "The True Story of an Unusual Indictment of a Foreign Ruler," considering it only devotes a handful of pages to the actual "manhunt" for Noriega. that being said, Harris tells a great story of the weird saga of Manuel Noriega, the cheap thug who was the de facto ruler of Panama for awhile.
Harris goes on in great detail about how the U.S. built its unprecedented case against Noriega by interviewing some of the key players in the indictment.
however, although Harris makes numerous allusions to the reluctance of several powerful agencies to endorse the case against Noriega (chiefly, the CIA and DEA), he never goes into much detail about Noriega's connection to these agencies or what role Noriega played in the Iran-Contra scandal, which i feel are probably the real stories here. i dont fault Harris for not having those answers, considering the sensitive nature of the questions, but this book begs the answers nonetheless.
i was also disappointed that Harris negelected to write at all about Noriega's trial, considering the exhaustive research he did into the indictment, but perhaps the trial is addressed in someone else's book.
despite its shortcoming, this is a very well researched book, and definitely worth the time if youre interested in U.S. policy toward drugs and/or Latin America.

In 1989 the United States sent American troops to arrest General Manuel Antonio Noreiga, Panama's highest military officer. Trying a foreign leader for events that took place in his own country as violations of U. S. law was previously unheard of in American history. Stopping the Medellin Cartel was a major step in slowing down the influx of illegal Cocaine and other drugs. Harris unravels the complicated story with wit and verve, very colorful language, marvelous humor, and a sense of excitement. Harris makes the FBI, DEA and CIA agents appear to be involved in a bumbling, amusing, tragedy. Oliver North was engaged in clandestine arms dealing and nobody seemed to know what anybody else was doing. Here is a true crime story on a grand scale with betrayal, murder, arms dealing and drug smuggling that reads like good fiction. Here are the explanations of the Reagan administration's dealings with the Sandinistas and Contras; names that were always in the news in association with cover-ups and destroyed evidence by government agencies, though the public didn't really know what was going on. Harris has done a superior job of investigative reporting to create an impressive chronicle of the events leading up to the invasion of Panama and the arrest of Manuel Antonio Noreiga. He made history come alive and really gave me a much better understanding of the events that were in the news for so long, and the role and fate of each of the historical players in this drama of our time.