Central America/Caribbean D+15 (24 July, 1987)

0030– Violence breaks out again in Panama City as pro-Noriega crowds converge on the US embassy and US military installations across the Canal Zone. The Panamanian police and paramilitary units that had spent much of the previous afternoon fighting anti-Noriega protesters in the streets are now nowhere to be found. Automatic gunfire is heard around the front gate of Fort Kobbe, and an RPG is fired at the US embassy by an unknown assailant. Fortunately, the rocket did little damage and caused no casualties.

0245– CIA sources report that Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega has been sighted arriving at a village in the hills south of Managua.

0545– The night and early morning was a quiet time in Nicaragua. No US airstrikes or missile attacks took place. Reconnaissance and ELINT flights continued on though and from the data gathered, it had become clear that Nicaraguan forces in the vicinity of the Honduran border were adopting a defensive posture.

0700– Panama City calms as the darkness gives way to daylight and sunshine. The crowds and protesters that spent the early morning hours rioting and attempting to storm the US embassy and military bases have disappeared from sight. In their absence, shops open and the streets fill up with cars and people. Panama City has returned to normal, at least for the time being.

0900- Battlegroup Romeo is ordered away from the Nicaraguan coast and ordered to take up a new position in the Gulf of Panama

1320– A communications blackout occurs at San Julian Air Base in Cuba, though its unclear if the move was the result of government orders or if the base commander, a known pro-Soviet hardliner, has acted without guidance from Havana.

1650– In Washington DC, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and the Joint Chiefs of Staff inform President Reagan of the worsening situation in Panama and the threat Manuel Noriega and his supporters pose to the US war effort. Weinberger and the Chiefs recommend that steps be taken to remove Manuel Noriega from power as soon as possible. Reagan agrees, but asks his defense secretary where the units for such an operation will come from. Weinberger’s reply: “We’re working on that now, Mister President.”

1835– A US Navy EP-3 AIRES flying an ELINT mission over the Caribbean picks up unscrambled radio traffic on Cuban defense networks regarding a growing mutiny at Cuban airbases. San Julian and Antonio De Maceo are two bases specifically named.

2200– Daniel Ortega remains on the move, shifting his location hourly to keep the US and its Contra allies from learning his location.

2256– At Fort Ord, California, the 2^nd Brigade/7^th Infantry Division (Light) receives warning orders