Chapter 51: Dark Nation·Dark Team

Time marched on, and 1989 gradually drew to a close, with the 1980s winding down.

At the December 1989 coastal meeting in Malta, President of the United States George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Gorbachev announced a declaration indicating that the Cold War between their two nations might soon come to an end.

The world seemed to see a glimmer of hope for peace.

However, at the end of December, the US Army launched a military operation called "Operation Just Cause," deploying troops to Panama aimed at overthrowing dictator Manuel Noriega.

27,000 members of the United States Navy easily defeated the Panama Defense Forces in less than ten days, at the cost of 25 lives, captured Noriega, and transported him to America for trial under U.S. law.

Interestingly, Noriega's rise from a poor boy born into a poverty-stricken family to the dictator of a nation could not have occurred without the support of the Americans behind the scenes.