Despite a series of attempts to overthrow General Manuel Noriega in the late 1980s, Noriega survived and even prospered, continuing to provoke the United States and particularly to harass the American armed forces in Panama. On 15 December 1989, the Panamanian National assembly appointed Noriega chief of the government and "maximum leader of national liberation." The assembly also declared Panama to be in a state of war with the United States.