Former dictator Manuel Noriega dies in Panama

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega died Monday at age 83. Noriega was an important ally of the United States during the Cold War, but Washington turned against him in the late 1980s for his use of killing and brutality to silence his detractors. U.S. forces ousted him in an invasion in 1989. Noriega reportedly converted to Christianity while in U.S. prison in 1990, though the sincerity of his faith remained a topic of debate for many years. He was baptized in a federal courthouse in Miami in 1992. Noriega served a 17-year drug sentence in the United States and then was sent to face charges in France. He spent all but the last few months of his final years in a Panamanian prison for murder of political opponents. The former dictator suffered from various illnesses, including high blood pressure, bronchitis and a benign brain tumor. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela wrote in his Twitter account that “the death of Manuel A. Noriega closes a chapter in our history.”

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