We know little about world history. It just so happened. Then I'll tell you the story of the state of Panama, which happened in 1989. Again, just facts, no emotions. The US invasion of Panama began on December 20, 1989, and the fighting ended five days later. Official reason: restoring democracy and protecting the lives of 35,000 American citizens living in Panama.
EVENTS THAT LEADED TO THE INVASION
1. The Panama Canal is the most important economic and military route that was controlled by the United States. In September 1977, Panama's President Torrijos and US President J. Carter (at the request of the international community) signed an agreement according to which, on December 31, 1999, the US was to transfer control of the Panama Canal to the Panama government.
2. In the mid-1980s, the US government began to put pressure on Panama to withdraw from this agreement. The government of Panama categorically refused to renegotiate the terms of this agreement and relations between the two countries began to deteriorate.
3. In February 1988, the US Department of Justice charged Panamanian Armed Forces Commander Manuel Noriega with drug trafficking and a number of other crimes. However, he offered to drop this charge if the general resigns from his post and will facilitate the revision of the agreement on the further ownership of the Panama Canal. Noriega refused.
4. In April 1988, the United States increased the military contingent controlling the Panama Canal by 1,300 troops "to ensure the safety of US citizens and interests."
5. In April 1989, the US President decided to impose economic sanctions against Panama. In May 1989, the US sent 2,000 more troops to Panama "to ensure the safety of US citizens."
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6. In October 1989, a group of Panamanian army officers, with US support, attempted an armed coup to oust Noriega. The conspirators were led by officers trained in the United States. The coup failed. The US condemned the Panamanian authorities for their unwillingness to follow the democratic path.
7. In November 1989, President of Panama F. Rodriguez met at a press conference with Soviet journalists. He said that the difficult socio-economic situation in Panama was caused by the hostile policy of the US government and said that Panama plans to expand relations with countries of the world (including the USSR) in order to reduce the vulnerability of Panama due to the dependence of the country's economy on “one of the great powers . The day after the speech, November 11, 1989, the United States announced the beginning of the evacuation of all family members of the US military in Panama (7,700 people) and began their evacuation.
MILITARY OPERATION "LEGAL CASE"
The invasion began at about one in the morning on December 20, 1989, the saboteurs were the first to act, and at two in the morning the US tactical aviation struck targets in the cities of Panama, Colon, Rio Hato and David. The main points of resistance were attacked simultaneously. Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, Panamanian state television was seized and stopped broadcasting, and an hour later began broadcasting an image of the US Department of Defense emblem and demanding that Panamanians not attack US citizens and property. At the same time, a special detachment of the United States attempted to capture the President of Panama F. Rodriguez and members of the Panama government, but the president managed to escape. 111 US transport aircraft began landing American troops: 84 of them dropped airborne troops, and 27 delivered troops and equipment to Albrook airfields,Tocumen and Howard Air Base by landing method. During December 20, 1989 (one day), US task forces largely completed their assigned tasks.
On December 22, 1989, US Colonel Mike Snell told reporters that 50 pounds of cocaine had been found by his subordinates at Manuel Noriega's home in Fort Amador. Later, in January 1990, after an expert examination, it was established that the bags contained flour for making flatbread. But this did not change the essence. Focal resistance continued for several more days, the last fighting took place on December 25 in the morning. The American command feared the deployment of an insurgency, but this did not happen.
In Panama, a new system of interaction between the psychological operations apparatus and the civil and military media was tested for the first time. For this, a specially selected and instructed contingent of journalists and photo reporters was created, which by the beginning of hostilities was transferred to the appropriate facilities. The information developed by specialists in psychological manipulation was presented to the residents of the United States and the world community through the controlled media from a strictly defined angle. In addition, the techniques of "psychological warfare" were used to induce Panamanian military personnel to end the struggle and surrender.
As a result of this invasion, the government of Panama was overthrown. The new President of Panama, Guillermo Endara, arrived in the country with American troops and took the oath of office as President of Panama at a US military base.
THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO THE INVASION
After the invasion began, 15 member states of the UN Security Council voted to condemn the US invasion of Panama, but the US, UK and France used their "veto" power to block the resolution. - The Organization of American States condemned the US invasion of Panama and demanded the withdrawal of US troops from Panama. 20 states voted for the adoption of the resolution, 1 against (USA). - The EEC adopted a resolution in which it expressed concern about the actions of the United States.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE INVASION
Manuel Noriega spent several days at the Vatican embassy, which was surrounded by US soldiers. To force Noriega to leave the embassy, the Americans installed speakers around the perimeter of the embassy, through which they played deafeningly loud rock music around the clock - as a result, the atmosphere in the embassy became unbearable. On January 3, 1990, he surrendered, was arrested and taken to Miami. Sentenced by an American court to 40 years in prison for encouraging terrorism. In addition, he was sentenced by the court of the new government of Panama to 20 years in prison for "political murder". He is still serving his sentence in a prison in Panama.
Panama's new president, Guillermo Endara Galimani, immediately launched a campaign to combat the memory of President Torrijos, who advocated the nationalization of the Panama Canal Zone. Already in the first three months after the invasion, new school textbooks were published, in which the era of the rule of Torrijos and Noriega was named as “21 years of military dictatorship”; Panama International Airport and Municipal Stadium, formerly named after Torrijos, were also renamed. On February 10, 1990, Guillermo Endara Galimani announced the disbandment of Panama's armed forces. As unnecessary. The official reason: "Why do we need to feed our army if the Americans are protecting us?" The Panama Canal remained under US control "no time limit" and free of charge.
The US invasion of Panama is the first-ever US intervention in which the US government used the slogans of "restoring democracy" and "preserving democracy" as a theoretical basis.