Invasion of Panama
| Invasion of Panama | |||||||
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| Part of the War on Drugs | |||||||
 U.S. soldiers prepare to take La Comandancia in the El Chorrillo neighborhood of Panama City, in December 1989. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States Panamanian opposition
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Manuel Noriega (POW) |
George H. W. Bush Maxwell R. Thurman Guillermo Endara |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 20,000 | 27,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 234 killed 1,908 captured |
26 killed 325 wounded |
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Panamanian civilians killed according to |
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US victory
Panamanian civilians killed according to
U.S. military: 202
United Nations: 500
CODEHUCA: 2,500–3,000
The United States Invasion of Panama, code named Operation Just Cause, was an invasion of Panama by the United States between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama by 1 January 2000.
During the invasion, de facto Panamanian leader, general, and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed, president-elect Guillermo Endara sworn into office, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved.
The United States long maintained numerous military bases and a substantial garrison throughout the Canal Zone to protect the American-owned Panama Canal and to maintain American control of this strategically important area. On 7 September 1977, President of the United States Jimmy Carter and the de facto leader of Panama, General Omar Torrijos, signed Torrijos–Carter Treaties, which set in motion the process of handing over the Panama Canal to Panamanian control by the year 2000. Although the canal was destined for Panamanian administration, the military bases remained and one condition of the transfer was that the canal would remain open for American shipping. The U.S. had long-standing relations with General Noriega, who served as a U.S. intelligence asset and paid informant of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1967, including the period when Bush was head of the CIA (1976–77).
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