A cheeky article comes our way on the heels of ex-Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega’s release from a south Florida penitentiary this past Sunday, one that describes him as having spent is time there “with a gammy leg, his hair dyed and in the uniform of an army which no longer exists, a bogeyman from another era.” (Sounds just like our favorite demented abuelo!) The country Noriega used to rule with a Pineapple Face, on the other hand, isn’t looking too shabby—as long as you belong to the Panamanian elite that actually benefits from a recent boom in tourism, retail, and construction:

The area around the Vatican embassy, where Noriega sought refuge before surrendering to US forces, is unrecognisable. In place of the school football pitch where thousands of protesters gathered to demand his head, there is a gleaming shopping centre selling Lacoste and Calvin Klein; where the Americans once used loud rock music to unnerve the general, the air is filled with construction drilling.

We’ll go ahead and say Metallica-free air is an improvement, Lacoste not so much—especially if you’re Ricardo Samanal, a slum-dweller who lost his lower left arm, his wife, and his job as an electrician when the Americans invaded. He naturally doesn’t give a shit if Noriega returns or is (finally) extradited to France, where the former general is most likely headed despite appeals keeping him in U.S. custody:

“What do I care if Pineapple Face comes back? Makes no difference.” He pointed his stump skyward to a flock of seagulls circling overhead. “The sewage brings them here. Noriega went away, but the sewage never left.”

Ain’t that a bitch. At least justice will prevail soon enough, as Noriega wallows for years in a plush and well-accoutered jail cell somewhere in the French countryside.

No return for Noriega, the dictator whose nation is still trying to forget [Guardian Unlimited via The Latin Americanist]
Image [Google]
Earlier, U.S. Attorneys Try To Cockblock Judge Who Cockblocked Manuel Noriega’s Extradition To France