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| 1990, Jan. 3 |
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| Gen. Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces and was taken to the U.S. to stand trial on drug trafficking charges. | 1 |
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| 1994, May 8 |
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| Businessman Ernesto Pérez Balladares won the presidency; his victory marked the reemergence of Manuel Noriega's left-of-Center Revolutionary Democratic Party. | 2 |
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| 1997, Dec. 24 |
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| Panamanian and U.S. governments announced an accord that would allow U.S. troops to stay in Panama after the U.S. relinquished control of the Panama Canal at end of 1999. | 3 |
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| 1998, Aug. 30 |
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| Voters rejected a constitutional change that would have allowed Pres. Ernesto Perez Balladares to run for reelection in 1999. | 4 |
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| 1999, May 2 |
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| Panama elected its first woman president, Mireya Moscoso de Grubar, the widow of former president Arnulfo Arias. | 5 |
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| Dec. 31 |
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| The United States formally passed control of the Panama Canal to Panama. | 6 |
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