(3 of 4)
Noriega has also shrewdly maintained cordial ties with the U.S. intelligence community based in Panama. An ingratiating host, he has allowed U.S. operations to proceed virtually unfettered. Some 10,000 military personnel are attached to the Panama-based U.S. Southern Command, Washington's military headquarters and prime listening post for Latin America. From SOUTHCOM, the U.S. can dispatch spy planes to overfly Nicaragua, monitor sensitive communications and military movements in the region and ensure the canal's smooth operation. As Panama's former intelligence chief, Noriega has ( also worked intimately with the Central Intelligence Agency. Says a State Department official: "The general figures his work with the agency is his insurance."
Noriega has not made many miscalculations during his career. The son of poor parents, he studied medicine for a year at Panama University. When he won a scholarship for studies at a military academy in Peru, he changed paths quickly. Upon graduation in 1962, the youth signed on with the Panama National Guard as a first lieutenant. He supported the 1968 coup that brought General Omar Torrijos to power. In 1970, after helping to quash a coup attempt against Torrijos, Noriega was made the head of Panama's intelligence services.
Over the next 13 years as intelligence chief, Noriega acquired a host of enemies and earned the unaffectionate nickname "Pineapple Face," after his acne-scarred complexion. Not least on his enemies list is Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera, 49, a Torrijos cousin whose own professional climb was blocked by Noriega's rapid promotion. Upon his forced retirement last month as second in command of the Defense Forces, Diaz summoned reporters to his home and charged Noriega with several crimes, including helping to arrange the 1981 plane crash in which Torrijos was killed. Last week Diaz deflected several summonses to appear at the Attorney General's office and lodge formal charges against Noriega.
While it is uncertain that Diaz's charges will get a fair hearing, his allegations have already received some unexpected backing. Shortly after Diaz spoke out against Noriega, former President Nicolas Ardito Barletta publicly charged that Noriega had forced him from office in 1985. Barletta claimed his ouster had been engineered by Noriega after Barletta had pressed for an investigation into the killing of Dr. Hugo Spadafora, a leading critic of the Panamanian military. Diaz has gone further, charging Noriega with masterminding Spadafora's murder.
The public accusations have lent weight to long-circulating rumors. Evidence of extortion, secret arms sales and drug trafficking remains largely circumstantial, encouraged by Noriega's three spacious houses, his art collection and his frequent holidays in France, all of which he enjoys on a military salary.