During the 1980s’, General Manuel Antonio Noriega was a former soldier and dictator in the Central American country of Panama during the 80s’. Noriega would initially find support from the American government assisting the Contras in their fight in Nicaragua against the Sandinistas. However, his contributions to the Medellín Cartel’s cocaine trading market, (led by none other than Pablo Escobar) and intense marketing of US secrets to communist countries would deface him as another infamous dictator in the eyes of President Bush Sr. Henceforth, Operation Just Cause was called for by the US government and officially began on December 20th, 1989, with the main priority aiming to capture General Noriega.
The US initiated their efforts with no warning and no holding back. Bush was concerned about American citizens being captured while abroad in Panama, so the president knew that it was necessary to act fast. Bush would amalgamate US a total of 23,000 members of the United States Armed Forces (13,000 present in Panama to begin with) to combat the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF). Contrary to expectations though, Noriega would shockingly and unexpectedly evade the US for some time as he was out hiding a safe distance from his wife. After being warned of US paratroopers landing in Panama by his bodyguard, Captain Ivan Castillo, Noriega would seek refuge from the Vatican. Noriega would be met with open arms by the Papal Nuncio to Panama, Monsignor Laboa, who met Noriega outside of a Dairy Queen located in Panama City. Not wanting to desecrate the Apostolic Nunciature in Panama and upset the Vatican, the US knew they would need to force Noriega out. After 10 days of blasting top hits such as “No More Mister Nice Guy,” by Alice Cooper, and “Give It Up,” by K.C., a distraught Noreiag would find himself exhausted enough to surrender himself to the US. Finally, after many years of searching, Noriega was sentenced to 40 years on July 10, 1992.
After serving about 3 decades in prison, a revolutionary title in the gaming franchise would be released. This game, of course, is Call of Duty Black Ops II. Noriega fits into the story as the de-facto dictator of Panama and general of the PDF. Similar to his actual presence, Noriega would work alongside the CIA before making an abrupt betrayal. On July 15, 2014, Noriega noticed this so-called inaccurate depiction of himself and sued Activision under the pretenses of defamation to boost sales and lost profits. Activision countered by arguing that if the lawsuit was seen through by the court, other mainstream political figures could make the same arguments Noriega’s legal team made against the film and gaming industry as a whole. The gaming corporation also mentioned that the Constitution protected their ability to depict Noriega as a villain in their game and that it was extremely difficult to detect how exactly this representation could have harmed his reputation without proper evidence (especially since his scandalous actions in the ’80s). In the end, Judge William H. Fahey dismissed the case, stating that Activision’s use of the First Amendment (free right of expression) exceeded Noriega’s right to publicity.
A takeaway you can leave this article with is that you won’t always control the press, so make good decisions and act on behalf of the people. And least of all, don’t sell top-secret American documents to communist nations!
Court Case:
https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/tech/gaming-gadgets/manuel-noriega-call-of-duty-lawsuit/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29811512
Background:
https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/remembering-manuel-noriega-and-his-capture/
Photo:
