Editing Manuel Noriega (section)

===Head of intelligence===
Noriega proved to be a very capable head of intelligence. During his tenure, he exiled 1,300 Panamanians whom he viewed as threats to the government. He also kept files on several officials within the military, the government, and the judiciary, allowing him to blackmail them later.{{sfn|Galván|2012|p=185}} Noriega also held the positions of head of the political police and head of immigration.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=49–52}} His tenure was marked by intimidation and harassment of opposition parties and their leaders.<ref name="Britannica" /> He was described as doing much of Torrijos's "dirty work".{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=27–30}}{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=50–52}} For instance, Noriega ordered the death of [[Jesús Héctor Gallego Herrera]], a priest whose work at an agricultural cooperative was seen as a threat by the government. Gallego's body is reported to have been thrown from a helicopter into the sea.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=50–52}} He also made an effort during this period to portray Panama as a hub of enforcement against drug smuggling, possibly as a result of pressure from Torrijos.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=71–72}}

By the early 1970s, American law enforcement officials had reports of Noriega's possible involvement with narcotics trafficking.<ref name='Frantz'>{{Cite news| issn = 0458-3035| last1 = Frantz| first1 = Douglas| last2 = Ostrow| first2 = Ronald J.| last3 = Jackson| first3 = Robert L.| title = Rivalry, Snitches, Murder Helped Shape Noriega Case| work = Los Angeles Times| access-date = October 14, 2017| date = February 25, 1990| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-25-mn-2221-story.html}}</ref> No formal criminal investigations were begun, and no indictment was brought: according to Dinges, this was due to the potential diplomatic consequences.<ref name='Frantz'/>{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=58–60}} This evidence included the testimony of an arrested boat courier, and of a drug smuggler arrested in New York.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=58–60}} Though Torrijos frequently promised the U.S. cooperation in dealing with drug smuggling, Noriega would have headed any effort at enforcement, and the U.S. began to see Noriega as an obstacle to combatting drug smuggling.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=61–64}} Dinges writes that the U.S. government considered several options to move Noriega out of the drug trafficking business, including assassinating him, and linking him to a fictional plot against Torrijos. Though no assassination attempt was made, the other ploys may have been tried in the early 1970s, according to Dinges.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=61–64}} Dinges wrote that beginning in 1972 the U.S. relaxed its efforts at trapping individuals involved with smuggling within the Panama government, possibly as a result of an agreement between Torrijos and U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]].{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=68–70}}

During the early 1970s, Noriega's relationship with the U.S. intelligence services was regularized.<ref name="Ghosh-2009">{{cite magazine |last = Ghosh |first = Bobby |title = Who's Who on the CIA Payroll |magazine = Time|url = https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1933053_1933052_1933051,00.html}}</ref> The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) placed him on its payroll in 1971, while he held his position as head of Panamanian intelligence; he had previously been paid by U.S. intelligence services on a case-by-case basis.<ref name="Graham"/><ref name="Johnston">{{cite news|last1=Johnston|first1=Davis|title=U.S. Admits Payments to Noriega|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/19/us/us-admits-payments-to-noriega.html|access-date=June 7, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 19, 1991}}</ref>{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=49–52}}{{sfn|Gilboa|1995|p=541}} Regular payments to him were stopped under the Carter administration, before being resumed and later stopped again under the administration of [[Ronald Reagan]].{{sfn|Scranton|1991|pp=13-14}} The CIA valued him as an asset because he was willing to provide information about the Cuban government and later about the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinista]] government in Nicaragua.<ref name="Hersh 1986" /> Noriega also served as the U.S. emissary to Cuba during negotiations following the [[Johnny Express incident|''Johnny Express'' incident]] in December 1971.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=68–70}} Noriega was given access to CIA contingency funds, which he was supposed to use to improve his intelligence programs, but which he could spend with little accountability. The contingency funds were as high as US$100,000 in some years.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=49–52}}

The CIA was aware that Noriega was selling intelligence on the U.S. to Cuba while he was working for it.<ref name="Hersh 1986" />{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=27–29}} Noriega also undertook a number of activities while nominally working for the CIA that served his own ends at the expense of the U.S. government.{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=27–29}} Journalist [[Frederick Kempe]] wrote in 1990 that Noriega had been linked to a series of bombings targeting the U.S. territory in the [[Panama Canal Zone]] during the prelude to the [[1976 United States presidential election|U.S. Presidential election in 1976]] after the administration of U.S. President [[Gerald Ford]] stepped back from negotiations about the Panama Canal.{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=27–30}} The bombings highlighted to the U.S. government the difficulty of holding on to the Panama Canal Zone in the face of hostility within Panama.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=83–85}} Kempe stated that the U.S. knew of Noriega's involvement in the bombings but decided to turn a blind eye toward them.{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=28–30}} In a December 1976 meeting with [[George H. W. Bush]], then [[Director of Central Intelligence]], Noriega flatly denied involvement, instead suggesting that the CIA was responsible.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=88–90}}

During negotiations for the Panama Canal treaties, the U.S. government ordered its military intelligence to [[wiretap]] Panamanian officials. Noriega discovered this operation in early 1976, and instead of making it public, bribed the U.S. agents and bought the tapes himself; the incident came to be known as the "[[Singing Sergeants affair]]".{{sfn|Kempe|1990|pp=27–29}}{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=81–84}} Although some intelligence officials wanted Bush to prosecute the soldiers involved, he declined because doing so would have exposed Noriega's role in the matter.<ref name="Graham" /><ref name=Engelberg>{{cite news|last1=Engelberg|first1=Stephen|last2=Gerth|first2=Jeff|title=Bush and Noriega: Examination of Their Ties|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/28/us/bush-and-noriega-examination-of-their-ties.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=June 7, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 28, 1988}}</ref> The CIA did not report this incident to either the [[National Security Agency]] or the [[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Justice Department]].<ref name=Engelberg/> Noriega and Torrijos later used their knowledge of the U.S. wiretapping operations to tilt the Panama Canal negotiations in their favor.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=93–95}} Noriega's drug-related activities came to the U.S. government's attention once again during the ratification process for the Panama Canal treaties, but were once again downplayed by the U.S. intelligence services in order to get the treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate.{{sfn|Dinges|1990|pp=96–99}}