Manuel Noriega
By: Paul Toscano
Background
Noriega was born in February 1938 and wanted to go to medical school. His family could not afford it therefore they sent him to military school. He turned out to be an outstanding military student. Shortly after he graduated, he became the captain of the Panama national guard. He was also working with the US and CIA. By helping them get crewmen from Cuba that were captured. However even with his extreme knowledge he was extremely selfish and cruel to his people. During the time he was involved with the US and CIA he was also involved in drug trafficking. In 1987 Noriega was suspected of gun trafficking, murder and torture of his people. Panama wanted him out of power and he tried desperately to stay. But finally the U.S got involved and captured him. He was sentenced to 40 years of American prison and he remains there today.
Postitives
Manuel Noriega's main attributes were his cleverness and military intelligence. Shortly after he graduated military school he became the captain of the national guard. He also later became the head general of the army and was elected as leader. Shortly after the election the U.S. invaded Panama with 24,000 troops, because of his cleverness it took 5 days to capture him even when Noriega was outnumbered.
Negatives
Noriega's main problem was his will to disregard human rights. He was extremely selfish and had unacceptable illegal behavior. He was also very corrupt and smuggled drugs through the US and CIA. Now he is sentenced to 40 years of American prison.
Video Games
Noriega was depicted in COD Black Ops II which is the most popular video game in the world. In July 2014 Activision was sent to court because they apparently featured him in the game without his permission. However Noriega wrote the lawsuit while imprisioned therefore the case was dropped in October 2014.
Noriega Attempts to Press Charges on Activision
Creative Piece
Activision,
I Manuel Noriega am writing this lawsuit to Activision because I do not appreciate the fact that I am a character in your latest video game. I understand that the campaign mode takes place in the late 80's which is when the U.S. was involved with me. Even though the story is true, all the characters are fake except for me which I do not tolerate. I am willing to take this to court and press charges on you for reviling my true identity.
Manuel Noriega
Essential Question:
How does Noriega compare to Mao and Stalin?