Editing Panama (section)

====US invasion (1989)====
{{Further|United States invasion of Panama}}

The United States invaded Panama on December 20, 1989, codenamed [[Operation Just Cause]]. The U.S. stated the operation was "necessary to safeguard the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama, defend democracy and human rights, combat drug trafficking, and secure the neutrality of the Panama Canal as required by the [[Torrijos–Carter Treaties]]".<ref>''New York Times''. A Transcript of President Bush's Address on the Decision to Use Force, December 21, 1989. Web. January 2, 2008.</ref> The US reported 23 servicemen killed and 324 wounded, with the number of Panamanian soldiers killed estimated at 450. The estimates for civilians killed in the conflict ranges from 200 to 4,000. The United Nations put the Panamanian civilian death toll at 500, [[Americas Watch]] estimated 300, the United States gave a figure of 202 civilians killed and former US attorney general [[Ramsey Clark]] estimated 4,000 deaths.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/world/panama-and-us-strive-to-settle-on-death-toll.html |title=Panama and U.S. Strive To Settle on Death Toll |last=Rohter |first=Larry |work=The New York Times |date=April 1990 |access-date=April 15, 2018 |archive-date=August 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815143126/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/01/world/panama-and-us-strive-to-settle-on-death-toll.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It represented the largest United States military operation since the Vietnam War.<ref>Cajar Páez, Aristides. "La invasion." Extra-centennial issue of La Prensa, Nov.9 (2003): 22. Print.</ref> The number of US civilians (and their dependents), who had worked for the [[Panama Canal Authority|Panama Canal Commission]] and the US military, and were killed by the Panamanian Defense Forces, has never been fully disclosed.

On December 29, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] approved a resolution calling the intervention in Panama a "flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r240.htm|title=A/RES/44/240. Effects of the military intervention by the United States of America in Panama on the situation in Central America|website=UN.org|access-date=June 29, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024215048/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/44/a44r240.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> A similar resolution was vetoed in the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/24/world/fighting-panama-united-nations-security-council-condemnation-invasion-vetoed.html|title=Fighting in Panama: United Nations; Security Council Condemnation of Invasion Vetoed|first1=Paul|last1=Lewis|first2=Special to The New York|last2=Times|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 24, 1989|access-date=February 11, 2017|archive-date=December 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208053954/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/24/world/fighting-panama-united-nations-security-council-condemnation-invasion-vetoed.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Noriega was captured and flown to Miami to be tried. The conflict ended on January 31, 1990.

The urban population, many living below the poverty level, was greatly affected by the 1989 intervention. As pointed out in 1995 by a UN Technical Assistance Mission to Panama, the fighting displaced 20,000 people. The most heavily affected district was the [[El Chorrillo]] area of Panama City, where several blocks of apartments were completely destroyed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roatan.com/About-Locations/Panama.pdf|title=Panama |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103819/http://www.roatan.com/About-Locations/Panama.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-panama-deception/|title=The Panama Deception|via=topdocumentaryfilms.com|access-date=May 5, 2019|archive-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505070320/https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-panama-deception/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Blum, William. Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions Since World War II -Common Courage Press, 2008.</ref> The economic damage caused by the fighting has been estimated at between 1.5 and 2 billion dollars.<ref name="Acosta, Coleen 2008"/> Most [[Panamanians]] supported the intervention.<ref name="Panama"/><ref>Pastor, Robert A. (2001) ''Exiting the Whirlpool: U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean'', p. 96, {{ISBN|0813338115}}.</ref>