Where does all the money come from, General Noriega?
A couple of years before the downfall of Manuel Noriega -- the U.S. invasion of Panama, the Miami mugshot, his arrest for drug trafficking and racketeering -- Mike Wallace showed up with a 60 Minutes crew to interview the dictator.
General Noriega had been running Panama -- brutally -- for 5 years by then and was widely believed to be working in cahoots with, and profiting wildly from, Colombian drug lords while also working on the payroll of the CIA.
Noriega, whose acne scars earned him the nickname "Cara de Pina" (Spanish for "Pineapple Face"), was reluctant to do a television interview, but Wallace managed to convince him to let the cameras roll. Of course, putting Mike Wallace and General Noriega in a room together virtually assured a classic 60 Minutes moment would result.
"Where does all the money come from General Noriega, your money?" Mike Wallace
The story of how that moment came to be was a much-told Mike Wallace office yarn.
Here is how he told it to author Frank Coffey for the book "60 Minutes: 25 Years of Television's Finest Hour" in 1993:
Mike Wallace: We had been after Noriega and after him for a long time. And all of a sudden they said, hey, the time to come is now. By no means was it a sure thing, but we had a shot.
You know, the business about Noriega being very sensitive about his bad skin is an absolutely true story. And I used it to my advantage. I took him aside before the interview, just he and I, and said, 'I know you're a little sensitive about your skin. I am too, because I have the same problem. But I have the best camera crew in the world. They make me look good. They will do the same for you.' He visibly relaxed. Thanked me. And I knew I'd gotten into a comfort zone with him. Now he trusted me. And my job was going to be easier. Later, during the interview, after pointing out his lavish lifestyle, when I asked him how much money he made in salary, he couldn't believe I'd asked the question.
Noriega's long pause and request for a break in the filming, spoke volumes, but when he rolled his eyes, that's when Wallace knew: "I had him."
Here's the script of the moment, posted in the video player above:
WALLACE: General Noriega, have you yourself never profited from the transshipment of drugs from Colombia to Panama, to the United States?
NORIEGA [through interpreter]: Never.
WALLACE: Never?
NORIEGA [through interpreter]: Never.
WALLACE: Question: how much do you make, what's your salary?
(Long pause)
WALLACE: Hard question. Simple question.
(Laughter)
MAN: Break, break, break.
WALLACE: You want time? Look, you say "break." It is my understanding that you make about $50,000 a year in your job, but you have several homes here in Panama, a home in Paris, fabulous art collection, you are said to be worth $400 million. I don't know. Your supporters laugh at that. You're a very wealthy man.
Where does all the money come from General Noriega, your money?
NORIEGA [through interpreter]: It's all false.