Editing Manuel Noriega (section)

=== Murder of Spadafora and aftermath ===
[[Hugo Spadafora]] was a physician and political activist who had first clashed with Noriega when they were both members of Torrijos's government. Though an ally of Torrijos, he and Noriega had been personal enemies for a long time.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=118–121}} Despite not being a member of the opposition, he became a vocal critic of Noriega after returning to Panama from Guatemala in 1981.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=133–135}} Spadafora amassed evidence of corruption within the government by using his position as an ally of Torrijos to question Noriega's allies, including Rodriguez and Carlton.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=179–181}} This included a lengthy conversation with Carlton in mid-1985 after his drug operations had collapsed due to conflicts over a missing shipment, and he had received negative publicity in the Panamanian press.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=212–213}} In September 1985 he accused Noriega of having connections to drug trafficking and announced his intent to expose him. The drug trafficking charges threatened Noriega's support among his own constituency of middle class individuals who had benefited under his and Torrijos's government.{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|pp=541–544}}{{sfn|Koster|Sánchez|1990|p=29}}{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=10–12}}

According to writers R. M. Koster and Guillermo Sánchez, on an occasion when Spadafora was traveling by bus from Costa Rica to Panama, witnesses saw him being detained by the PDF after crossing the border.{{sfn|Koster|Sánchez|1990|p=26}} His decapitated body was later found wrapped in a [[United States Postal Service]] mail bag showing signs of brutal torture.{{sfn|Koster|Sánchez|1990|p=29-31}} Noriega was widely believed to be responsible for the murder, and according to Koster and Sánchez, the U.S. had intelligence implicating Noriega. On the day of Spadafora's arrest, the U.S. National Security Agency monitored a telephone conversation between Noriega and Luis Córdoba, the military commander in Chiriquí province where Spadafora was arrested. During the conversation Córdoba told Noriega, "We have the rabid dog." Noriega responded, "And what does one do with a dog that has rabies?"{{sfn|Koster|Sánchez|1990|p=28}}

Spadafora's murder badly damaged Noriega's image, both within and outside Panama,<ref name=Tran2010/>{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=218–219, 230–231}} and created a crisis for the Panamanian regime.{{sfn|Scranton|1991|p=23}} Barletta, who was in New York City when Spadafora was murdered in September 1985, announced his intention to appoint an independent commission to investigate the murder. Upon his return to Panama, however, he was forced to resign by the PDF and was replaced by Vice President [[Eric Arturo Delvalle]].{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=188}}<ref name = 'Kinzer1'>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Kinzer| first = Stephen| title = Panama Military: Too Deep in Political Trenches?| work = The New York Times| access-date = October 7, 2017| date = February 17, 1986| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/17/world/panama-military-too-deep-in-political-trenches.html}}</ref>{{sfn|Scranton|1991|pp=22-24}} Barletta was highly regarded in the Reagan administration, and his removal brought a downturn in the relations between the U.S. and Noriega.{{sfn|Kempe|1990|p=125}} After Spadafora's murder the U.S. began to view Noriega as a liability rather than an asset, despite his ongoing support for U.S. interventions elsewhere.<ref name=Tran2010/>{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=218–219, 230–231}} The U.S. response included reducing economic assistance and pressuring Panama to reform its banking secrecy laws, crack down on narcotics trafficking, investigate the murder of Spadafora, and reduce the PDF's role in the government.{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=188}} The response to Spadafora's murder created divisions within the PRD, and further damaged the credibility of the government-controlled news media.{{sfn|Scranton|1991|pp=22-24}}

[[Roberto Díaz Herrera|Díaz Herrera]] considered using the uproar around Spadafora to seize power during a brief period that Noriega was traveling outside the country, but despite mobilizing some troops, eventually decided against following through with the coup, realizing he could not count on sufficient support.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=222–224}} Furthermore, Noriega had made a deal with his deputy, to the effect that he would step down as military leader in 1987 and allow Díaz Herrera to succeed him. In 1987, however, Noriega went back on this agreement, announced he would be heading the military for the next five years, and assigned Díaz Herrera to a diplomatic post.{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|pp=544–545}} Díaz Herrera retaliated by making public statements accusing Noriega of rigging the 1984 election, murdering Spadafora, and of trafficking in drugs, as well as of assassinating Torrijos with a bomb on his plane.{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|pp=544–545}}

Díaz Herrera's statements provoked huge protests against Noriega, with 100,000 people, approximately 25% of the population of Panama City, marching in protest on June 26, 1987.{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|pp=544–545}} As with Spadafora's murder, these incidents strengthened and brought together the internal opposition to Noriega.{{sfn|Scranton|1991|pp=25-27}} Noriega charged Díaz Herrera with treason, and cracked down hard on the protesters.{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|pp=544–545}} The U.S. Senate passed a resolution asking Noriega to step down until Díaz Herrera could be tried; in response Noriega sent government workers to protest outside the U.S. embassy, a protest which quickly turned into a riot. As a result, the U.S. suspended all military assistance to Panama, and the CIA stopped paying Noriega a salary.{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|pp=544–545}} The Senate resolution had the effect of identifying the U.S. with the effort to remove Noriega; Noriega exploited the rising anti-American sentiment to strengthen his own position.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=268–269}} Without the support of the U.S., Panama defaulted on its international debt, and that year the country's economy shrank by 20%.<ref name="nytimesobit" /> Though the U.S. considered not recognizing Delvalle as president, the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] decided against it, as it would have amounted to breaking relations with Noriega.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=232–233}}