Editing Manuel Noriega (section)

===Invasion===
The U.S. launched its invasion of Panama on December 20, 1989. Although the killing of the Marine was the ostensible reason for the invasion, the operation had been planned for months before his death.<ref name="BBC1" /> The move was the largest military action by the U.S. since the [[Vietnam War]], and included more than 27,000 soldiers,<ref name="nytimesobit"/> as well as 300 aircraft.{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=190}}

The invasion began with a bombing campaign that targeted Noriega's private vehicles, and the PDF headquarters located in [[Panama City]]. Several slums in the middle of the city were destroyed as a result.{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=190}} The day after the invasion, Noriega's deputy Colonel [[Luis del Cid]] retreated with some soldiers to the mountains outside [[David, Chiriquí|David City]], after laying [[land mine|mines]] at the airport. Though this was part of a contingency plan for the invasion, del Cid quickly decided that the Panamanian military was not in a position to fight a guerrilla war against the U.S., and negotiated a surrender.{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=18–20}} Twenty-three U.S. soldiers were killed in the operation, including two that were killed by [[friendly fire]]; 324 soldiers were injured.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Broder |first1=John M. |title='Friendly Fire' Killed 2 GIs in Panama : Invasion: The Pentagon sharply increases its estimate of U.S. casualties inflicted by own forces. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-19-mn-196-story.html |access-date=June 3, 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 19, 1990}}</ref> Casualties among the Panamanian forces were much higher; between 300 and 845.<ref name="nytimesobit" />{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=190}} The U.S. government reported between 202 and 250 civilian deaths; [[Americas Watch]] estimated 300 civilian deaths; and the United Nations estimated 500 civilian deaths.{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=190}}<ref>{{Cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Panama and U.S. Strive To Settle on Death Toll|date=April 1, 1990 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/world/panama-and-us-strive-to-settle-on-death-toll.html|last1=Rohter|first1=Larry|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York}}</ref>

On December 29, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] voted, 75–20 with 40 abstentions, to condemn the invasion as a "flagrant violation of international law".<ref>{{cite web|author=International Development Research Centre |url=http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/963-1/ |title=The Responsibility to Protect |date=December 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213081648/http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/963-1/ |archive-date=December 13, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |title=After Noriega: United Nations; Deal Is Reached at U.N. on Panama Seat as Invasion Is Condemned |date=December 30, 1989 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/30/world/after-noriega-united-nations-deal-reached-un-panama-seat-invasion-condemned.html?pagewanted=1|last1=Lewis |first1=Paul |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York }}</ref> According to a [[CBS]] poll, 92% of Panamanian adults supported the U.S. incursion, and 76% wished that U.S. forces had invaded in October during the coup.<ref name="pastor">{{cite book |last=Pastor |first=Robert A |title=Exiting the Whirlpool: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean |publisher=Westview Press |page=96 |isbn=978-0-8133-3811-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-nNDAM91uUC |year=2001}}</ref> Activist Barbara Trent disputed this finding, saying in a 1992 Academy Award-winning documentary ''[[The Panama Deception]]'' that the Panamanian surveys were completed in wealthy, English-speaking neighborhoods in Panama City, among Panamanians most likely to support U.S. actions.<ref name="trent">{{Cite AV media |people=Trent, Barbara (Director) |title=The Panama Deception |date=July 31, 1992 |publisher=Empowerment Project |url=https://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/panama.html |format=Documentary film}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] described the reaction of the civilian population to the invasion as "generally sympathetic".<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Panama.htm#TopOfPage Panama] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113164637/https://www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Panama.htm#TopOfPage |date=January 13, 2017 }}, Human Rights Watch, 1989.</ref>