I was surprised nobody mentioned the passing of "Central American strongman" Manuel Noriega, who passed late last month.
The US intervention against him, after collaborating with him for many years, always stuck in my mind, even as a young man.
Here's an interesting take from the Mieses institute on how this was one of the first dominoes to fall around the time the Soviet empire gave up the ghost.
https://mises.org/blog/how-1989s-invasion-panama-set-stage-25-years-endless-war
The US intervention against him, after collaborating with him for many years, always stuck in my mind, even as a young man.
Here's an interesting take from the Mieses institute on how this was one of the first dominoes to fall around the time the Soviet empire gave up the ghost.
https://mises.org/blog/how-1989s-invasion-panama-set-stage-25-years-endless-war