Podcast
Real Dictators
The author of 'Manuel Noriega, Prisoner of War', Angel Ricardo Martinez-Benoit, believed that Noriega was unfairly made the scapegoat and that his crimes should be considered within the context of the wider world, not just Panama.
It's very convenient to make Noriega the scapegoat of everything. So everything gets centralised in his image.
— Episode: Manuel Noriega Part 1: The Narco Dictato...
Episode: Manuel Noriega Part 1: The Narco Dictator
The author of 'Manuel Noriega, Prisoner of War', Angel Ricardo Martinez-Benoit, believed that Noriega was unfairly made the scapegoat and that his crimes should be considered within the context of the wider world, not just Panama.
It's very convenient to make Noriega the scapegoat of everything. So everything gets centralised in his image.
I'm certain that he did a lot of bad things, but I think the main problem is that there has been a massive effort to kind of take him outside of the context and just be like, this guy is the devil.
When I think it should be analysed in not only Panama's context, Central America and the whole hemisphere, the whole world.