Economy is booming.

Almost two decades after strongman Manuel Noriega was imprisoned in the US, the country he ran as his personal drug fiefdom is a booming financial center and tourist magnet seeking to forget its darker past, reports Reuters (Aug. 18, 2007):

Noriega, arrested by US troops after the 1989

invasion of Panama, was to be released from a Miami prison on Sept. 9, but most Panamanians want him jailed again, in either his homeland or France, where he is wanted for money laundering. Business leaders worry that having the former leader back home would clash with Panama's image as a safe haven of flashy skyscrapers, Caribbean beaches and jungle-cloaked mountains. Panama's govt. wants Noriega sent home to carry out a 20-year sentence for abuses during his 1983-89 rule and hopes memories of him will fade;

Panama now boasts 9% annual economic growth, a US$5 billion expansion of the Panama Canal is underway and investors are vying to turn it into a regional energy center. A recent opinion survey by Dichter and Neira showed 47% of Panamanians think Noriega--whom opponents dubbed "Pineapple Face" for his bad skin--should carry out his sentence in Panama once he is freed in Miami; 44% do not want him in Panama at all.

President Martin Torrijos, who was elected in 2004, has been praised for his austere fiscal management and tax reform, which have helped attract international bondholders. But some political analysts and many poor Panamanians say the real reason few people want Noriega back is because it would expose the country's poverty and huge inequalities, as well as a weak and corrupt justice system unable to give him a fair trial. About 40% of Panama's 3 million people live in poverty, as they did when Noriega ruled, with 25% surviving on around US$50 a month. The poorest remember Noriega, who was born poor, as someone who challenged the European-descended elite and their fabulous wealth.

Torrijos' father, military strongman Omar Torrijos who ruled from 1968-81, helped promote Noriega to the top of the country's armed forces. Noriega cronies are even back in government under Torrijos. Public Works Minister Benjamin Colamarco used to run a paramilitary group that cracked down on those who dissented under Noriega.