ANGEL MURILLO/AFP/Getty Images(PANAMA CITY) — Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega died late Monday, a representative for Santo Tomas Hospital in Panama City confirmed to ABC News. He was 83.
Noriega died at 11:00 p.m. local time. No other details were released.
Panama’s president, Juan Carlos Varela, tweeted overnight that Noriega’s death “closes a chapter in our history.” He added that Noriega’s daughters and family members “deserve a funeral in peace.”
Muerte de Manuel A. Noriega cierra un capítulo de nuestra historia; sus hijas y sus familiares merecen un sepelio en paz.
— Juan Carlos Varela (@JC_Varela) May 30, 2017
Noriega served as Panama’s dictator from 1983 until 1989, when he was ousted by the United States during the invasion of Panama. Prior to that, he had worked closely with the CIA and was a high-level cocaine trafficker.
He was captured in the invasion and brought to the U.S. to face drug charges, and received a sentence of 40 years behind bars that was later reduced to 30 years.
In March of this year, he was found to have a benign tumor in his brain and underwent surgery.
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