Manuel Noriega was born in 1934 in Panama City, Panama. Noriega grew up very poor and could not afford any high level of education. Like most who could not afford schooling he attended a military college in Peru. His schooling in Peru would ultimately give him his start to gaining contacts, friends, and most importantly American connections.

To understand Noriega's rise to power first you must understand the environment in which he did so. After World War II a communist movement began to slowly spread throughout the world. This went against America's belief in democracy and created a riff between the Soviet Union and The United States creating the Cold War.

Noriega knew his strengths and his weaknesses, and ultimately knew how to play "the game", very well at that. The fact that America allowed itself to be easily manipulated because of their political anxieties allowed Noriega to gain the upper hand. Was America scared to lose "the game"? Were they scared Noriega would blow the whistle on Americas secret involvement in Central America? Many of these questions carry no present importance, but one fact is known and that is Noriega's cleverness to take advantage of a good situation.

Noriega played many if not every side of the fence in his rise to power. He was paranoid, and often created enemies in order to give a false sensation that those feelings of paranoia were true. Manuel Noriega betrayed many in the end, his own heroes, his loyal followers, the people of his country, and most importantly the U.S.

At the same time that he was Chief of intelligence he was smuggling guns to help Salvadoran rebels fight against the government of El Salvador. Even though America was backing the government in El Salvador, Noriega " had no hesitancy in selling arms to the rebels" (Johnson pg.246).

The irony that America helped to develop Manuel Noriega into a Panamanian Dictator raises questions as to why they did, and what made them shift from friend enemy.

Noriega although helping the U.S., still maintained a close relationship with Castro and ultimately the Soviet Union. Noriega would consistently feed Castro with information about American technology and military affairs. Noriega of course by supplying information was able to keep good connections on both side of the Cold War. Noriega was a double and triple-cross individual whose ability to do so created lucrative dividends on the payrolls of not just the CIA but also Castro.

In the late seventies the rise of Drugs and the flow of it into the U.S. began to create noise within the American borders. When Ronald Reagan was elected, the phrase "War on Drugs" became well known and Nancy Reagan the First Lady ran the highly publicized "Just Say No To Drugs" campaign. During the late seventies and early eighties Columbia's major drug cartel the Medellin family had prospered by smuggling drugs and laundering its profits in America. Once again Noriega was the prime asset and beneficiary of this operation.

America could not stand for this domino affect to happen and hence Noriega was once again called upon to help. Noriega at this time had seized total control of Panama due to the mysterious death of then President Omar Torrijos which in fact could have been linked to many political problems he was facing throughout Central America. Due to Noriega's prior involvement with gun smuggling he was very experienced and open to participating in President Reagan's efforts in neutralizing and immobilizing the Sandanista government.

Since Noriega had total control over all the major institutions in Panama he was able to finance and facilitate the flow of illegal money into and out of Panama. Due to the elimination of income taxes, and strict bank secrecy Panama had become both a tax and bank haven. Noriega was involved on all levels of intelligen

Some common words found in the essay are:
America Noriega, William Casey's, Manuel Noriega, Cold War, Military Intelligence, Panama Noriega, Whereas Noriega, Central American, Central America, Noriega Story, manuel noriega, cold war, soviet union, central america, el salvador, america noriega, government el salvador, noriega played, noriega able, rise power, government el, el salvador rebels, throughout central america, trafficking money laundering, ultimately soviet union,
Approximate Word count = 2128
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)