Did you know Panama has no army? Probably not, but it wasn’t an arbitrary or random decision. You see, it was all due to one man: a dictator, a tyrant, an enemy of the United States of America. Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno, who grew from low-ranking soldier in the Panamanian Army to the most powerful man in the country in just a few decades. And – while they initially loved him as a strong ally against Latin American communism – his relationship with the U.S. soon turned sour and brought about the last foreign invasion Latin America has ever faced.

In this episode, we learn the story behind the United States’ famous ‘Operation Just Cause’, a controversial invasion of Panama which left civilians and enemy forces dead in its wake, and which still causes certain bitterness and anger in the Central American nation to this day. And… just what was Noriega’s darkest, deepest secret that shocked the world long after the invasion had ended? Find out in our latest episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast!

Transcript of this episode is available at: https://podcast.lingomastery.com/listen/1166