America's Prisoner: The Memoirs of Manuel Noriega

344 Pages·1997·47.165 MB·English

by  Peter Eisner

The Memoirs
of
Manuel
Noriega
America's
Prisoner
MANUEL
NORIEGA
AND PETER EISNER
Important messages sometimes a nlikely
messengers. /
.
Manuel Noriega is the only American pris-
oner of war. He may be a demon in the eyes of most
Americans, but he has a unique and alarming view of
the secrets behind U.S. relations with Panama and the
real reasons for the 1989 invasion that removed him
from power. In this memoir, certain to be one of the
most newsworthy and controversial of the year,
Noriega describes for the first time his backstage deal-
ings with George Bush, Oliver North, William Casey
and the CIA, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro and
Moammar Gahdafi.
But this is more than a deposed strongman's
tell-all that some might find hard to believe. Noriega's
story was investigated independently by Peter Eisner, a
top foreign correspondent who has written about Latin
America for twenty years and covered Noriega's fall for
Newsday. Eisner's reporting finds support for some of
Noriega's assertions and provides additional perspec-
tive for others, in his conduct as head of Panama's mil-
itary, his secret dealings with Cuba on behalf of the
CIA, his relations with key U.S. officials, and the
unconscionable damage inflicted upon the people of
Panama by the U.S. invasion. Moreover, Eisner raises
new questions about the allegations that Noriega was
a drug dealer and a murderer. In fact, he concludes
Noriega is not guilty of these charges.
And then there is Noriega himself, a surpris-
ingly savvy military man who saw h'T-t-^'f as a
nationalist, an honest broker betwt in U.S.
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Noriega, Manuel Antonio
America's prisoner
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA 46802
You may return this book to any location of
the Allen County Public Library.
DEMCO

AMERICA'S PRISONER
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2010
in
http://www.archive.org/details/americasprisonerOOnori
The Memoirs
of
Manuel
Noriega
america's
Prisoner
Manuel
Noriega
and
Peter Eisner
RANDOM HOUSE
NEW YORK
— —
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counts
Copyright © 1997 by Manuel Noriega
Introduction and Afterword copyright © 1997 by Peter Eisner
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc.,
New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House
ofCanada Limited, Toronto.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Editorial Juventud, Barcelona,
for permission to reprint eight lines from "Los Caballos de los
Conquistadores" by Jose Santos Chocano from ElLibra de Oro de la
Poesia en Lengua Castellana. Copyright © Ra Luz Morales.
Reprinted by permission of Editorial Juventud, Barcelona.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Noriega, Manuel Antonio
America's prisoner: the memoirs ofManuel Noriega /
Manuel Noriega and Peter Eisner.
cm.
p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-679-43227-2 (alk. paper)
—
I. Noriega, Manue—l Antonio. 2. Panama His—tory
American Invasion, 1989 Causes. 3. United States Relations
— —
Panama. 4. Panama Relations United States. I. Eisner, Peter.
II. Tide.
F1567.N67N67 1997 972.8705'3'092—dc20 96-27788
[B]
Random House website address: http:y/www.randomhouse.com/
Printed in the United StatesofAmerica on acid-freepaper
24689753
FIRST EDITION
Book design by Carole Lowenstein
To all who died in the U.S. invasion ofPanama, December 20, 1989,
and to the American people, unaware ofthe dirty tricks played
by the establishment and its leaders.
Those who know do not tell.
Those who tell do notknow.
—
Lau Tzu