The Francis Press Presents ...

In Defiance: The Battle Against General Noriega Fought from Panama’s Embassy in Washington
by Juan B. Sosa

ISBN 0-9665051-1-5
$28.00, 320 pages 
(17 photos & index)
6" x 9" hardcover
Published in October 1999

Juan Sosa’s memoir is the behind-the-scenes story of the dramatic two-year struggle between Panama’s dictator, General Manuel Noriega, and the country’s official representative in the United States.  Sosa was appointed ambassador to the United States by the constitutional  president of Panama, Eric Delvalle, in October 1987.  Soon thereafter Noriega consolidated control of the government, overthrew the president, and sought to place a loyal supporter in the important diplomatic post in Washington.  In direct defiance of Noriega’s illegitimate demand, Sosa continued to represent his country and to be recognized by the government of the United States.

Throughout his tenure, Sosa was involved frequently with the White House, the State Department, key members of the U.S. Congress, and the media. At the same time, relations between the United States and the de facto government in Panama deteriorated steadily, propelled by Noriega’s indictment in an American court on drug charges. As Sosa watched with alarm and frustration from Washington, Noriega nullified the presidential elections of May 1989 when he realized that his candidate had been soundly defeated, thus further deepening the crisis. 

Sosa served as ambassador until August 1989 when Delvalle’s term officially ended. He continued to be involved in the struggle against the dictatorship until Noriega was ousted by U.S. military forces in December and brought to Miami for trial. 

Sosa concludes his account with thoughtful observations about the implications of this tumultuous saga for democracy in Panama, for her relations with the United States, and for the future of the Panama Canal, which passes to full Panamanian authority on December 31, 1999.

“This is a ‘must read’ for anyone who wants to know how foreign policy really works in Washington.  It is an extraordinarily fascinating story of the intrigue and elaborate machinations of the U.S. response to the Noriega thugs of Panama.   Told by the best possible source, the democratic Panamanian ambassador to Washington, this insider’s personal story reads like the product of a novelist’s imagination, but it’s all too true.”
Michael D. Barnes, former member, U.S. Congress;
former chairman, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs,
Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Ambassador Juan Sosa is one of the genuine heroes of the difficult struggle to bring down Manuel Noriega’s dictatorial rule in Panama. . Vividly written and balanced in its judgments, In Defiance is an essential book for those seeking to understand U.S.- Panamanian relations during those turbulent years. . . .”
Allen Weinstein, president, The Center for Democracy;
author, most recently, of Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage
in America - The Stalin Era.

JUAN B. SOSA was born in Panama City, Panama in 1941. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1963, he worked in the private sector in Panama. Sosa represented the government of President Delvalle as Panama’s ambassador to the United States from October 1987 to August 1989. Since 1990 Sosa has been president of Panamerica Corporation, a marketing and business development consulting firm, in Washington, DC where he lives with his wife and two children.

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