Day of Mourning in Panama

Day of mourningDecember 20 was declared a day of national mourning in memory of the events of 1989, when the United States attacked the capital of the country. This day honors the memory of those who died on December 20 during the brutal and unjust invasion of one of the most powerful armies in the world.

The decision to conduct Operation Just Goats was made by the President of the United States on December 17-18, 1989. On the 20th around two o'clock in the morning, the operation began, by the morning the main points of resistance, namely the two bases of the local army and its headquarters in downtown Panama City, were suppressed.

The intervention against Panama was the largest military action of the United States since the aggression in Vietnam. In an effort to justify the armed invasion in the face of the world community, US administration officials have repeatedly stated that the goals of the operation were primarily to protect American citizens in Panama, remove General Noriega from all senior positions and bring him to trial as one of the leaders of the drug mafia.

The losses of the American armed forces in the course of hostilities, according to Western sources, amounted to 23 killed and about 330 wounded. The National Defense Forces and the Dignity Battalions lost 314 people killed and 124 wounded. At the trial of General Noriega, former U.S. Justice Secretary Robert Clarke said, citing data from the Red Cross, hospitals and human rights organizations, that between 4,000 and 7,000 Panamanian civilians died as a result of the intervention.