IL Postcard

Noriega Scheduled to Leave Miami Prison in September

Date: 02/11/2007

If you for some reason find yourself checking out the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Website, you'll see that Panama's former dictator, General Manuel Antonio Noriega, is scheduled for release on September 9, 2007. According to Noriega's lawyer, Frank Rubino, the U.S. government will deport Noriega as soon as he is released.

So will the so-called strongman try to resurrect his political career in Panama? Both Noriega's defenders and detractors say "no way."

Name	Register Number	Age	Sex	Release Date	Actual / Projected Location
MANUEL ANTONIO NORIEGA	38699-079	70	M	09-09-2007	MIAMI FCI
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons Website shows inmate 38699-079 is slated for release on September 9, 2007.

Rubino says Noriega wants to see his grandchildren, adding that the inmate is in good health and hopes to spend his remaining years in his native land.

Panamanian authorities-including Minister of Justice Olga Golcher-say that Noriega will go straight to jail if he enters the country (Noriega could, in theory, eschew both Panama and the U.S. in favor of another country…if one will have him).

In 1994, Panama courts convicted the general in absentia of a slew of violent crimes. His total sentence amounts to 55 years, though Panamanian law only allows for 20 years in actual lockup. Noriega, 70, would be 90 by the time he finished serving out his sentence.

According to Rubino, his client plans to contest his Panama convictions, as he was not present to defend himself. Quotes in Panama newspapers indicate that Noriega won't have much support for an appeal, though. Most of his top cronies were also convicted of crimes in Panama and are either in prison, or living lives of obscurity post-release. Panama's National Penitentiary Director Carlos Landero even said that Noriega might serve out his sentence in La Joya, Panama's grim maximum security prison. The headline "La Joya Awaiting Noriega" is being quoted around the country this week.

Some are guessing Noriega's story will play out something like that of Augusto Pinochet-Chile's former dictator. Pinochet was placed under arrest in Chile and he spent his remaining years shuttling between his place of imprisonment, the hospital, and the courts, where he was contesting the charges. Pinochet died during the process.

Best Regards,

Brandon Clogston
International Living / Panama

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