In 1988, a US Senate subcommittee headed by then-Senator John Kerry came up with a new word to describe Panama – “narco-kleptocracy”.
It referred to the years of corruption, cronyism and theft of state coffers under the government of military strongman Manuel Noriega.
Noriega spent decades on the payroll of the CIA as an agent while simultaneously rising in importance in the powerful Medellin drug cartel.
For years, Washington turned a blind eye to the Panamanian leader’s blatant drug trafficking and money-laundering until it could be ignored no longer. (Editor’s note: One side of the story)
The United States invaded Panama in 1989 in what it called Operation Just Cause.
Noriega was ousted from power and arrested. Since then he has served consecutive jail sentences in the US, France and now in his native Panama.