Violence Breaks Out After Panama Trial
PANAMA CITY — Widespread violence broke out Monday after a jury cleared seven former soldiers of the grisly 1985 torture-killing of an outspoken opponent of former dictator Manuel Noriega.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Panama’s main cities to protest the seven-member jury’s acquittal of the soldiers on charges of killing Panamanian physician and former guerrilla leader Hugo Spadafora.
In Panama City, President Guillermo Endara’s wife, Anna Mae Endara, herself led the protesters, some of whom blocked traffic and started fires in the capital’s streets.
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