American soldiers detain a man caught looting during the invasion of Panama in 1989. Steve Starr/Corbis/Getty Images Havana —

A Latin American strongman accused of drug trafficking and rigging elections openly defies the White House despite threats of military action.

It was 1989 and the then military dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega, much like Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro today, had become public enemy number one in Washington, amid allegations that he took millions of dollars to allow drug cartels to operate in his country.

The US invasion of Panama led to Noriega’s capture and restored democracy to the Central American nation.

To some pushing for military action against Maduro, the Panama invasion seems like a model – however imperfect – for what the US is trying to accomplish

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