I totally agree with Harry. Jim, the info you put in the book synopsis is about Operation Urgent Fury...the invasion of Grenada in 1983. It would be great if there was a book like this one on Urgent Fury. Harry...Manuel Noriega is the loser they captured in Panama. There were no Cuban troops in Panama...only about 16,000 PDF...Panamanian Defense Forces. Here is the info from the Concord site on the book: http://www.concord-publications.com/6503/6503.htm

My apologies I was rushing to get it posted and trying to do three other things at the same time - I'll amend it later. Thnaks for pointing it out...

I beg to differ, gentlemen, but there were Cuban troops in Panama, in small numbers, beginning in 1988, and extending on into 1989. There were a number of Cuban special forces troops assigned as "advisors" to the PDF's "Machos de Montes" (literally, "Men of the Mountains", the PDF SF troops that our 7th SFG had trained in previous years.) I can attest to this personally.

Ron - thanks for clarifying that. Maybe my mind was playing tricks (and I certainly managed to mix-in Grenada ), but yes, I do remember some references at the time to a Cuban presence. Maybe you'd like to expand further?

I was working with SOCSOUTH at that time, and had occasion to meet up with them every now and again. RonC

Thanks Ron, Learn something new every day. I had never heard of Cuban troops in combat in Panama during the invasion...surely by the invasion on December 20, 1989 there couldn't have been too many left in country. What kind of numbers are you talking about and would they have had any effect against the invasion troops? They must have bugged out pretty quick as the PDF was getting whipped and then abolished when the Panamanian Public Forces were formed in February, 1990.

Hi guys I don't want to sound like some kind of compiracy theory nut, but could the presents of Cuban advisors even in limited numbers be another reason for the invasion ? With Cuban forces in country that's a real clear sign of Panama's goverment moving closer into a communist sphere of influence. This was something the US goverment could never allow. Jim I apologize for questioning you on the presences of Cuban forces. I would have never thought that even in the ending stages of the cold war our goverment would have knowing allowed somthing like that to happen. Harry

Manuel Noriega had become a loose cannon and was cozy with Colombian narcoterrorists and could certainly have forged an alliance with Castro, given time. He was making militant speeches against the USA even while American troops were stationed in his country. It all came to a head when a US sailor was murdered while driving his car to work, and Noriega made a speech "declaring war" against the USA. Much to his surprise, George H. W. Bush decided to take him up on it. Noriega's been in a US prison since.

The presence of Cuban forces, in the limited nhumbers there were, was not a reason for "Operation Just Cause" to take place. I have not seen the Concord publication yet, obviously, but the armed conflict began in the February-March timeframe in 1988, almost 2 years prior to the actual invasion. An incursion at the Arraijan Tank Farm from the direction of Sr. Paredes' farm to the west was the initial action. It was an interesting counter-insurgency operation up until "Just Cause" took place. RonC