Answer: Because in 1988, federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa indicted Noriega and fifteen others on drug smuggling charges. President Bush thereupon ordered an invasion of Panama with the purpose of capturing Noriega so that he might stand trial in the United States.
Explanation:
In 1983, General Manuel Noriega had maneuvered himself into the position of leader of the Panamanian Defense Forces, which made him the de facto head of the government. In 1987 a rejected associate published charges of Noriega’s drug activities and accused him further of rigged elections and political assassination. The legislators then declared Panama “in a state of war” with the United States. The next day, December 16, 1989, a U.S. marine in Panama was killed. The twelve thousand U.S. military personnel already in Panama were quickly joined by twelve thousand more and in the early morning of December 20 five military task forces struck at strategic targets in the country. Within hours, Noriega had surrendered. Twenty-three U.S. servicemen were killed in the action, and estimates of Panamanian casualties, including many civilians, were as high as four thousand. In April 1992, Noriega was convicted in the United States on eight counts of racketeering and drug distribution.
