October 29, 2018 Before leaving Panama City this morning we visited El Chorrillo Neighborhood. It is well known in Panama for an incident the Panamanians call Black Christmas. In 1989, the United States invaded Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the US on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering US nationals. Noriega’s headquarters were situated in the middle of this neighbourhood. On December 20, 1989, 4 days before Xmas, the US bombed Noriega’s headquarters. But of course, being in the middle of a crowded neighbourhood there were a lot of civilian casualties. There is a painted sign on a wall that says « Santa Claus brought bombs, this Christmas, to avenue A, December 20, 1989. » We then proceeded out
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