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WHO: Lt. General Marc Cisneros, U.S. Army Retired
WHAT: :  Lecture and Discussion on Capture of Former Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega
WHEN: Friday, September 21 at 2 p.m.
WHERE: Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Bay Hall, Room 103

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Retired Lt. General Marc Cisneros, who played a highly-instrumental role in the January 1990 capture of Panamanian dictator and drug lord Manuel Noriega, will speak at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Friday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. in Bay Hall, Room 103.

The lecture to students, faculty and staff coincides with Noriega’s scheduled release from the federal penitentiary in Miami where he has been serving time for drug trafficking and related charges. However, far from going free, the former dictator is scheduled for extradition to France where he faces similar charges. Noriega was also tried in absentia on murder charges in Panama in 1995 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

When the United States invaded Panama in December 1989, Noriega took refuge in the Holy See’s embassy which was immediately surrounded by U.S. troops. After being continually bombarded by hard rock music and “The Howard Stern Show” for several days, Noriega surrendered on Jan. 3, 1990. Cisneros, the highest-ranking Latino officer in the U.S. military, is widely-credited with persuading all nine of Noriega’s provincial commanders to surrender a collective 5,000 troops, averting what could have been a long and bloody battle.

Cisneros, a native of Brownsville, Texas, joined the army as a second lieutenant in 1961 and, at the time of his retirement, was commanding general at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. During his military career, he received two Distinguished Service Medals and the Legion of Merit. In 1997, Hispanic Business magazine named him one of the “Top 100 Hispanics.”