Paper Says Marine’s Call Home Told Noriega of U.S. Invasion

MIAMI —  Manuel A. Noriega learned in advance of the U.S. invasion of Panama when an American Marine telephoned his mother to complain that it would interfere with his vacation, the Miami Herald reported.

The newspaper based its account on secret Army debriefing papers that were videotaped by a British journalist.

Captured Panamanian officers told U.S. interrogators that Noriega never expected a full-scale invasion until Dec. 17.

The Panamanian Defense Forces intercepted a phone call from a Marine assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Panama to his mother in the United States. U.S. troops later found a transcript of the conversation at the headquarters of Panama’s military intelligence agency.

“We’ve been here in the embassy since 10 o’clock last night waiting for the war to start,” the Marine said. “I was upset. . . . They want to start when I’m getting ready to go home on vacation.”

Noriega also received warnings on Dec. 19, just hours before the attack began. Capt. Ivan Castillo, one of Noriega’s bodyguards, said two U.S. soldiers were overheard saying the invasion would begin that night. And an American soldier warned his girlfriend of the invasion. Another woman, a Panamanian soldier who was with the girlfriend at the time, contacted Noriega’s secret police about the conversation, officers said.