CIA Has a Plan for His Ouster, Noriega Tells Spanish Paper

Panamanian military strongman Manuel A. Noriega said in a published interview that the CIA has a detailed plan for his ouster so that the United States can “continue threatening Latin America from Panama.”

The interview was published over the weekend in the weekly El Independiente but was given last week, before President Eric A. Delvalle tried to fire Noriega as armed forces chief, a move resulting in Delvalle’s ouster by the National Assembly.

In the interview, Noriega said that the CIA plan was uncovered by Panamanian authorities and is called the “Menu for Panama.”

“First, (the Americans) want to destabilize us with economic convulsion, strangling Panama’s economy,” said Noriega, who has been indicted by two U.S. grand juries on drug and racketeering charges.

The economic problems, the Panamanian strongman added, would end in “social upheaval and later fighting among the armed forces . . . and riots in the streets.”