"Panama Trick" exposes the truth about the ugly invasion of the US military
On July 31, 1992, an American documentary called "The Panama Trick" was released, and the following year the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film follows the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 and exposes the real cause of the U.S. invasion — in order to renegotiate the terms of the Torrijos Carter Treaty (also known as the Panama Canal Treaty). The film also features mass graves found after the U.S. military evacuated, burned communities, and more than 20,000 refugees fleeing the fighting. The documentary caused a great response after it was broadcast in more than 80 cities across the United States.
Poster of "Panama Trickery"
The real reason is revealed
The Panama Trick is 1 hour and 34 minutes long and begins with the story of U.S. intervention in the region since the United States took control of Panama in 1903. In 1903, after failing negotiations for U.S. control of a piece of land in the province of Panama (then part of the Republic of Colombia) and the right to build a canal, the United States intervened in the Panamanian uprising against Colombian rule in November of that year. In November 1903, the United States recognized the Republic of Panama. Subsequently, the U.S.-Pakistan Treaty was ratified. The United States obtained permanent lease rights to the Canal Zone at a very low cost, and the Canal Zone, which is about 16 kilometers wide, has since become an "enclave" for the United States. The treaty stipulates that the Panama Canal Zone is the territory of the United States and administered by a governor appointed by Congress. The Panamanian people were dissatisfied with the U.S. occupation of the Canal Zone, and nationalist movements rose and fell. On September 7, 1977, Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaty with U.S. President Carter, under which the United States transferred full control of the canal to Panama on December 31, 1999. The treaty was strongly opposed by conservatives in the United States, and the revision of the treaty became the most important factor behind the United States invasion of Panama in 1989.
Trent, director of "Panama Trick", and screenwriter David Casper believe that Torrijos' death in a plane crash in 1981 was not an accident. The documentary goes on to reveal the intricate relationship between Panama's de facto leader, Manuel Noriega, and the United States. Since the late 1950s, Noriega has been working closely with the CIA, and he is one of the CIA's most valuable sources of intelligence. However, After becoming the actual leader of Panama, Noriega gradually wanted to get rid of the control of the United States, which caused strong dissatisfaction from the conservative government in the United States, and the US government turned Noriega into a villain through the media, labeling him an "evil drug lord dictator". The film revealed that the U.S. media demonized Noriega in order to gain public support for the U.S. military's invasion of Panama. The documentary also said that there was a personal factor in Bush's order for the US military to invade Panama, and he hoped to eliminate the image of cowardice during his presidency, show tough guys, and lay the foundation for the next election.
The history of "Panama Trick"
More than 20,000 Panamanians became refugees
In the early morning of December 20, 1989, people around the world woke up shocked by the news of the U.S. invasion of Panama. "Panama Trick" shows footage of an invasion that people have never seen before. The documentary juxtaposes official U.S. statements with intrusive atrocities and real-life footage of people in a militarily controlled country. Particularly strong contrast was Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams' repeated statement that "I have not seen any reports of U.S. military executions in Panama," but the real scene was a picture of a destroyed village. Statistics show that more than 20,000 Panamanians became refugees after the U.S. invasion.
The documentary also shows the mass graves that appeared after the invasion of the US military. The documentary said that if the U.S. military only targeted military facilities, it would be a routine military operation, but witnesses said that U.S. soldiers also opened fire on civilians and homes. El Giorillo was home to about 30,000 people, and many were awake despite the early hours of the morning when the U.S. invasion was launched. As the U.S. dropped the bomb, a resident crossed the street to a corner shop to buy cigarettes, saying: "The owner closed the door and told me to lie on the floor, and for a moment I felt hot on my back, as if the heat was coming from the house that was on fire next door." Then, the gunfire stopped for a moment and I ran out of the store. On the street, I met a wounded friend, and we were standing against a wall when a burst of gunfire rang out and my friend died. I was running down the street and saw children, women, the elderly and the dead, tanks running over corpses... It was horrible, my family had lost everything. U.S. Southern Command acknowledged that the fires that occurred in El Jorillo may have been caused in part by the use of flares by U.S. forces. The fire destroyed several blocks and caused serious civilian casualties. In an interview with the documentary, Admiral Thurman, commander-in-chief of the U.S. invasion operation, repeatedly claimed that the war had only killed 500 people, while the PanamaNian Commission on Human Rights said that number was close to 4,000.
The U.S. media became part of the military-industrial complex
"Panama Trick" also shows the consequences of the US invasion of Panama, which is completely different from the US media coverage, the film strongly attacked the US news media as a puppet manipulated by the White House, and the news media became part of the military-industrial complex. Following the invasion, the Panamanian Defence Forces and police forces were destroyed, resulting in mass looting in Panama City and Cologne.
The United States refers to the 1989 military operation as an "operation for the just cause," a description that many Panamanians do not agree with. "Panama Trick" exposes how the US media has falsified polls, showing what has not been reported or misreported in the news. A CBS poll showed that 92 percent of Panamanian adults supported the U.S. invasion, however, Panama Trick said polls against Panamanians were conducted in wealthy, English-speaking neighborhoods in Panama City who were most likely to support U.S. operations.
The documentary said that the official U.S. explanations for military intervention were that U.S. citizens were in danger, that Noriega's drug smuggling must be crushed, and that the region must be democratic, was unconfirmed: drug trafficking had doubled since the U.S. military invasion; and that the oligarchy led by Panama's new president, N'Ndala, was sanctioned by the United States. The film argues that the real reason for the U.S. invasion was the pro-Pentagon-friendly ruling class in Panama and the destruction of the Panama Defense Forces, a prelude to renegotiating the Torrijos Carter Treaty by 2000, or the United States would have relinquished control of the canal and dismantled its military bases by 2000. The film's end credits show that in March 1991, President Ndalla proposed a constitutional amendment that would permanently abolish Panama's right to own the military. That same year, the U.S. Congress also passed a bill to renegotiate the Panama Canal Treaty to ensure that the United States continued to maintain its military presence in the Panama Canal Zone.
"Panama Trick" caused a great response when it was released in the 1992 U.S. presidential election year, and soon aired in more than 80 cities across the United States. Media commentators said that considering the U.S. government's censorship and restrictive control of the media during and after the invasion, Trent's footage was stunning. The Los Angeles Times said the film simply but forcefully stated the reasons for opposing the "official" version.
Invasion: The Collective Memory of Panamanians
In April 2014, the documentary Invasion ( pictured below ) , written and directed by Panamanian film director Abne Benem , tells the story of what followed the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama. Instead of explaining the ins and outs of the war or digging up newly declassified archival documents, the unusual documentary offers a new perspective on the impact of the U.S. invasion on panamanians and how it appeared in their collective memory.
History is usually told by the victors, but Invasion is the opposite. Invasion is a documentary about the collective memory of a nation that looks back at the 1989 U.S. invasion and capture of Panamanian leader Noriega from the perspective of ordinary Panamanians. People's lives were disrupted by the war, and many people have their own memories of the invasion of Panama that took place during Christmas and New Year's Day 1989.
The documentary "Invasion" does not use archival video, but focuses on the memories of ordinary people about military invasions, including people who nearly lost their lives in the bombing, officers and soldiers of the Temporary Military Defense Force, journalists, historians and so on. Witnesses who lived through that war revealed a lot of little-known things in interviews with the documentary. When the invasion began, rumors of a U.S. invasion of Panama were exaggerated when a reporter hoping to spend a quiet Christmas called to try to persuade colleagues that the United States had invaded Panama. And at that moment, the first bombs fell. An elderly man recalled that in the early morning of December 20, 1989, U.S. bombs kept coming into the slums of Panama City, destroying homes and killing many people, and after the U.S. bombing, survivors had to celebrate Christmas in temporary accommodation. One historian said records from the University of Panama's seismic station showed 417 explosions in the 14 hours in which the U.S. military launched the invasion, or one bomb exploded every two minutes. For residents of Panama City's wealthy district, however, the war was no more dangerous than the grand fireworks display, with some sitting in the living rooms of high-rise apartments watching the military operation with glasses of wine glasses in their hands, many of them cheering for the fall of the Noriega regime. A wealthy Panamanian elderly couple claimed in the documentary Invasion that they were particularly excited to see young American soldiers and offered them steaks.
According to witnesses, the officers and men of the US military attach great importance to their own protection in combat and do their utmost to avoid casualties in their own units. In contrast, the U.S. military does not take civilian casualties seriously, especially in the poor El Giorillo area of Panama City, where the U.S. military has committed many atrocities. The PanamaNian Defence Forces headquarters are headquartered around this slum, and in order to reduce casualties, the U.S. military launched a heavy weapons attack on the Headquarters of the PanamaNian Defence Forces from at least 4 hours in two directions before the infantry dispatched, which undoubtedly caused the death of many Panamanian civilians in the vicinity. Some survivors recall that the U.S. military did not warn nearby residents before the attack, resulting in many deaths under U.S. artillery fire, and that there were many civilian bodies lying on the streets of the El Jorrillo area. Others recalled that U.S. troops sometimes fired indiscriminately and sometimes killed civilians as Panamanian soldiers. During the U.S. military's 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, civilians who go out are shot. The U.S. military claimed that many soldiers of the PanamaNian Defense Forces had changed their uniforms into civilian clothing, which made it difficult for them to distinguish between civilians and "plainclothes soldiers", resulting in the death of some civilians. A Panamanian historian said that most of the PanamaNian Defense Forces surrendered soon, and there was no need for the U.S. military to launch an attack on the old city of Panama or go on a killing spree in the neighborhood. The documentary does not give a conclusive answer to how many Panamanians died in the 1989 U.S. invasion. There have been comments that the real statistics will embarrass the United States, which describes the operation at that time as a rapid "clinical operation" in modern warfare.
Many Panamanians want Noriega to step down, but they oppose foreign invasions, the documentary said. The film also interviews a person who used to work at the Vatican Embassy. Noriega was hiding in the Vatican Embassy at the time, and in order to force Noriega to leave the embassy, the U.S. military played rock music loudly, trying to make Noriega nervous. After many days of suffering, on January 3, 1990, Noriega surrendered to the U.S. army.
Shortly after its release, the documentary was selected by Panama as a candidate for the 87th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but unfortunately it was not nominated. It is reported that this is the first time that Panama has submitted a film to participate in the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The critically acclaimed film, which was released at a time when the United States was considering sending additional ground troops to Iraq, questioned the legitimacy of U.S. armed intervention in foreign countries and the humanity of U.S. military officers and soldiers.
Global Times Hou Tao Cheng Jianqiao
Source: Global Times