A little wonder, every day

rock music outside the nunciature

U.S. Marshal photo of Manuel Noriega after his capture on January 4, 1990, not at the nunciature. Photographer: U.S. Marshals Service, Miami. U.S. federal-government work; public domain in the United States. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manuel_Noriega_1990_U.S._Marshal_mugshot.jpg. No attribution required; attribution retained here for provenance. Resized download (960 × 1,227); no crop.

U.S. Army armored vehicles traveling in Panama during Operation Just Cause, December 1989; contextual image, not a photo of the music campaign or the nunciature. South Carolina National Guard archive photo, public domain and cleared for release. DVIDS: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1705011/sc-national-guard-members-recall-operation-just-cause. No edits.

1 / 2

U.S. Marshal photo of Manuel Noriega after his capture on January 4, 1990, not at the nunciature. Photographer: U.S. Marshals Service, Miami. U.S. federal-government work; public domain in the United States. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manuel_Noriega_1990_U.S._Marshal_mugshot.jpg. No attribution required; attribution retained here for provenance. Resized download (960 × 1,227); no crop.

Listen to fact0:00 / —

During the siege of the Papal Nunciature in Panama, where Manuel Noriega was sheltering, U.S. troops played loud rock music outside as psychological pressure. This took place in late December 1989. Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990, after nearly two weeks of negotiations and diplomatic pressure; sources do not establish that the music itself persuaded him.