8. Manuel Noriega
Manuel Noriega has become famous for being a drug-trafficker, arms dealer, and military dictator of Panama, but he also worked closely with the CIA. His relationship with the agency began in the 1950s when the United States was preparing to invade Panama. Noriega first caught their eye when he was attending military school in Peru, and he was sent to study Psychological Operations (Psy-Ops) in North Carolina. After the coup in 1968, Noriega eventually attained complete power over Panama. He was a key asset to the United States because of his ability to spy on other Leftist countries in Central America. The CIA and Washington knew full well that Noriega was a massive trafficker of cocaine, and worked closely with the Medellin Cartel along with Pablo Escobar. But they continued to turn a blind eye, even when Noriega became more and more brutal, beheading his political opponents and attacking American citizens in Panama who got in his way. Eventually, enough was enough and president Bush Senior sent troops in who captured Noriega. Much earlier, Bush was a close ally of Noriega, and as you can see in the above photo, often met with the dictator on friendly terms. In his mid 80s, Manuel Noriega is still in prison to this day.
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