1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt

The 1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt was a failed coup d'état which occurred in Panama City on 3 October. The attempt was led by Major Moisés Giroldi, supported by a group of officers who had returned from a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Namibia. Although the plotters succeeded in capturing Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, the coup was quickly suppressed. Giroldi, together with nine other members of the Panamanian Defense Forces, was executed on 3 and 4 October 1989. An eleventh participant died in prison after being tortured. These events became known as the "Albrook massacre".

Relations between Panama and the U.S. had steadily deteriorated during the 1980s, owing to concerns on the U.S. side over the safety of American nationals in Panama, the fate of the strategically important Panama Canal and Noriega's alleged involvement in facilitating drug trafficking. Under the Reagan administration, the U.S. indicted Noriega on drug trafficking charges and introduced economic sanctions against Panama, but these measures failed to achieve Noriega's resignation.

A coup had been attempted in March 1988 but had failed and Giroldi was one of those responsible for suppressing it.

Two days before the coup, Giroldi's wife, Adela Bonilla de Giroldi, informed United States Southern Command that a coup was imminent. This resulted in a meeting between Moisés Giroldi and two CIA agents. U.S. officials claimed that Goroldi only asked for minimal help: protection for his family and roadblocks by U.S. troops in the Panama Canal Zone at two strategic locations in order to prevent troops coming to Noriega's rescue.U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney subsequently stated that the Bush administration distrusted Giroldi, fearing they were being led into a trap designed to embarrass the U.S. and also doubted Giroldi's ability to succeed and to deliver Noriega into U.S. hands to stand trial. As a result, the U.S. declined to give specific commitments on supporting the coup.

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