For the past 20 years, street vendor Andres Gonzalez, 73, has kept a public shrine to Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, waiting for the day his comandante returns to Panama. Though most passersby don't seem to share Gonzalez's nostalgia, the possibility of Noriega's return — if a French court heeds the Panamanian government's appeal — is giving this modernizing country an unwelcome blast from its banana-republic past.
For a country that now wears a suit and tie and wants to be taken seriously as a first-world player, Noriega has become an uncomfortable reminder of Panama's brutish, olive-drab past. Even though Noriega is 76 and convalescing after suffering two strokes in prison, some Panamanians still worry that the general could run the show again if brought back to the country. "A lot of Noriega's people are camouflaged in positions of power, waiting for him to return and give the order," says 42-year-old taxi driver Rafael Palma. He worries that the current government is weak and warns, "Noriega specializes in coups."
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