CABLECODE#: 89PANAMA8545
Date: 1989-12-13 19:07
US hopes for coup  or something — in Panama
Key point: Cable sent a week before the US invaded Panama and deposed of the military dictator Manuel Noriega  a previous paid informant to the CIA. Cable gives a breakdown of the current situation and how Noriega is only just clinging on to power after recent coup attempts and therefore is increasing harassment of his opposition.
Dispatch: “The political tension in Panama increased by recent press revelations and U.S sanctions announcements, will likely ebb in early 1990, absent some major event. Noriega is showing no signs that he has any intentions of leaving voluntarily. Give broad political realities in this country, the only hope for a first step in crisis resolution is another coup. Waiting for that to happen is the main political prospect or Panama in 1990.”

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