against him, and Del Cid had surrendered. Then it got personal. She was deeply worried about him. He was trapped in a corner with very few options, and it was obvious she cared a lot about him and wanted him to stay alive.
At first, Noriega steadfastly refused to consider surrender, but as the next couple of days passed, he began to waver.
On January 1, Panamanian radio announced that a large anti-Noriega demonstration would take place the afternoon of the third on the avenue that passed the Nunciatore. The demonstration was advertised as a 'show of support for U.S. actions in Panama.' On January 2, we received intelligence that anti-Noriega groups might take matters into their own hands and try to 'deal with Noriega' during this 'friendly' demonstration.
Security was increased. Two additional infantry battalions took up positions along the demonstration route, snipers were posted on every local high-rise roof, Sheridan tanks and a battalion of military police were brought in to establish a roadblock two hundred yards from the Nunciatore (demonstrators could not pass beyond it), and an AC-130 gunship and Apache helicopters would overwatch.
The snipers were given orders to shoot anyone who fired on the demonstration, as well as any demonstrators attempting to storm the Nunciatore; but no one was to fire on the crowd without my approval.
Early on the afternoon of January 3, thousands of people marched toward the Nunciatore, beating pots and pans and waving banners proclaiming support for the United States.
As the crowd was beginning to move, Cisneros was on the way to a meeting with Downing and Monsignor Laboa in Downing's elementary school headquarters. As he drove past the demonstrators, several of them were shouting 'We want Noriega!'
Many of the demonstrators knew Cisneros, and one group stopped him: 'Let us have him,' they called out, 'and we can solve this problem very quickly.'
'No,' he told them. 'That's not the way to go. We're much better equipped to handle the problem. Don't look for a confrontation, or you may become casualties yourselves.'
Shortly, the crowd had grown to several thousand (some estimates put it at 20,000) and could be heard from the Nunciatore a mile away.
Near the Nunciatore, Cisneros and Laboa discussed the demonstration. 'Do you know about Mussolini's final days?' Cisneros asked the Nuncio.
Laboa was familiar with the story. A mob had lynched the Italian dictator, then hung him upside down, naked.
'If this mob gets hold of Noriega,' Cisneros continued, 'they will most certainly lynch him. But if he surrenders, we will protect him.'
That seemed to motivate Laboa in a way we hadn't seen before. With a very worried look on his face, he leapt up and dashed across the street to the Nunciatore. Moments later, he had a talk with Noriega. We don't know what they said, but the Nuncio surely mentioned that Noriega's countymen out there in the streets were in a killing mood.
Miss Vicki also had a talk with him at about that time. Their conversation lasted about ten minutes. 'The decision is in your hands,' she concluded.
The demonstration outside grew ever noisier, but remained 'peaceful'; no shots were fired. Thousands were chanting, 'Assassin! Assassin! No more! Down with Noriega! Out of the Nunciatore!' A Noriega mannequin in military uniform with a pineapple head was hung in effigy.
An hour before dark, a light rain began to fall and fog was moving in. At about the same time, we sent the demonstrators a message over our loudspeakers that it was time to break up and go home. And they did.
We'll probably never know who influenced Noriega more — Miss Vicki or the Nuncio. However, we were asked to bring one of Noriega's uniforms to the Nunciatore. Marc Cisneros had confiscated three uniforms from his Fort Amador office. We sent over one of these.
At 8:44 P.M. on the evening of January 3, 1990, 'General' Noriega, accompanied by Father Vilanueva, another priest at the Nunciatore, and Monsignor Laboa, walked out of the gate and into the street, where Downing was waiting. Downing had never seen Noriega in person, but judging from pictures, had imagined he was a robust, roly-poly guy. That did not turn out to be the case. The man was small and shriveled-up. 'Have they substituted another guy?' Downing instantly asked himself. 'Did Noriega slip out the back gate?'
Downing grabbed Lieutenant Colonel 'Jerry,' his man in charge of security. 'Make sure they're watching the rear,' he said urgently. 'This isn't Noriega.'
Meanwhile, another Embassy official, standing beside Cisneros, remarked, 'Don't worry, that's him.'
Noriega was carrying a Bible and a toothbrush.
The party entered the school, continued through it, and walked down the steps leading to the soccer field, where two Blackhawks were waiting.
Monsignor Laboa gave Noriega a final blessing, which concluded, 'My son, now I leave you.'
Downing then took Noriega a little further; Laboa did not wish to be present when the dictator was handcuffed. As they neared the helicopters, two large special operators were waiting with flex cuffs. As they approached him, Noriega put up a protest. 'I am a general,' he announced. 'I am a prisoner of war. I don't need to be treated like this.'
His protests were ignored. For his own protection, he was quickly cuffed and placed in the lead helicopter, and the helo lifted into the fog. At Howard Air Force Base, an MC-130 was waiting with its engines running and two DEA agents on board, along with a special operations doctor. As the tailgate was closing, Noriega was read his rights, then placed under arrest by the DEA agents.[30]
En route to Homestead Air Force Base, he was made to undress for a physical examination. He pulled off all his clothes except his underwear. When he was told to take that off, too, it turned out he was in fact wearing two pair — white boxer shorts and red bikinis underneath.
The JSOTF surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel 'Tony,' gave him a thorough physical. He was physically fit, and no physical harm had been done to him. He was then given an Air Force flight suit and a pair of hospital sandals. After he put these on, he was handcuffed, shackled, and placed in a seat at the front of the aircraft near the bulkhead, where he slept for the next four hours.
Before landing, he asked to put on his general's uniform, and was allowed to do so. At Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, a Learjet was waiting to fly him to Miami for arraignment before a federal judge.
During the drama of Noriega's surrender, Senator John Warner and I monitored every detail in the operations center at Fort Clayton (Warner was there to show his support and make a personal assessment).
As the Blackhawks lifted into the fog for I Ioward Air Force Base, shouts went up from the seventy-five or so operations officers and NCOs who had been working practically around the clock since the start of Operation JUST CAUSE. This was
Now we could devote our full attention to getting Panama back on its feet — free from oppression. Senator Warner rushed to the big operations map and with a Magic Marker wrote: 'Great job! We are all very proud of you!' Then he made a few much-appreciated inspirational comments.
The word spread quickly. Joyful Panamanians filled the streets — ex — pressing their thanks so effusively the troops had a hard time eliminating the last pockets of resistance.
THE VETTING PROCESS
On Friday, December 22, 1989, President Endara decided to abolish the PDF, except for a two-hundred-man presidential guard force, a specially trained and equipped reaction force (whose numbers were yet to be defined), and the new Fuerza Publica (public police force), with a new chief to lead it. In the past, the functions of police, customs, and defense had all been merged into the PDF. These functions were now separated.
The task remained to sort out the PDF. Some were being held by our infantry companies in the west. Others were being held in the detention camp.
The sorting-out task was assigned to Vice President Calderon, who soon asked for our help. At a meeting with Thurman and me, the three of us agreed that U.S. forces would handle the working out of this process, and Calderon would represent the Panamanian government.
