Democratic Palestine : 34 (ص 23)
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- Democratic Palestine : 34 (ص 23)
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US Intervention in Panama
The US is once again flexing its
muscles in Central America with a
military beef-up of US troops in
Panama. On May 11th President Bush
announced that he was sending about
2,000 additional combat troops to
Panama under the pretext of protecting
American lives, after the US-backed
Opposition candidates Guillermo En-
dara, Guillermo Ricardo Ford and
Arias Calderon failed to assume power
after the May 7th national elections.
The elections were annulled by
General Noriega on May 10th due to
«the obstruction by foreigners and the
lack of tally sheets» which resulted in
the non-election of a president, two
vice-presidents and the _ national
assembly.
ELECTION INTERFERENCE
The US interfered in the sovereign
elections in Panama using various
means to ensure the election of the
«right» slate. Firstly, President Bush
instructed the CIA to fund the opposi-
tion candidates to the tune of $10
million. Then, Bush sent a 13-member
uninvited delegation of elected officials
to Panama to «supervise.» After the
elections the state department was
referring to the opposition candidate,
Guillermo Endara, as the president-
elect of Panama.
WHY THE US WANTS
NORIEGA OUT
There are two inter-related reasons
why the US wants Noriega out and
therefore beefed up its troops to ap-
proximately 12,000 in Panama. The
first reason is because Noriega and the
15,000-strong national defense force he
heads, challenge US imperialist in-
terests concerning the Panama canal.
Noriega has called for the over 10,000
US troops stationed in the canal zone to
go and the implementation of the
September 1977 Treaty Concerning the
Permanent Neutrality and Operation of
the Panama Canal. These two treaties,
which were signed by President Carter
and General Omar Torrijos of Panama
Democratic Palestine, August 1989
and took effect in October 1979, main-
tain that Panama alone shall operate
the canal and maintain military forces
in Panama after 1999.
Additionally, until the year 2,000,
the US will operate the canal through
an independent federal agency ap-
pointed by the US president consisting
of five Americans and four Panama-
nians. Presently, the administrator is an
American and his deputy is a Panama-
nian but in January 1990 this will be
reversed. This treaty also states that the
only permissible purpose of US in-
tervention is to keep the canal «open,
secure and accessible» and that such
intervention «shall never be directed
against the territorial integrity or
political independence of Panama.»
Reaganites objected to Carter’s
agreement with Torrijos thinking that
the canal belongs to the US. Recently,
Republican leader Newt Gingrich
reiterated Reagan’s line that the US
would never cede the canal to Panama.
Therfore, for over 18 months the US
has embarked upon a campaign-overtly
and covertly-to oust Noriega and put in
his place someone who will ultimately
be willing to change the terms of the
canal treaties, since Noriega has been
the key figure favoring the return of the
canal to under its country’s control.
This waterway is extremely important
to US interests because not only does it
facilitate commercial shipping but more
importantly it enables the US Navy to
move its ships freely between the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The second reason why the US wants
Noriega out is because it needs a client
government in place there to continue
to operate freely their Southern Com-
mand base which is in charge of most
US military operations in Central and
South America and is headquartered
there. This Command is imperialism’s
main military outpost in Central
America and is essential to continue
US-backed counter insurgency ac-
tivities in El Salvador and elsewhere in
the area. Therefore, with Noriega in
power, the US sees the future of this
base threatened.
SANCTIONS AGAINST
PANAMA
The US over the past year and a half
has implemented various sanctions
against this country of 2,2 million in an
effort to destabilize the country and
oust Noriega. Among these efforts in-
clude economic sanctions which have
been in place since late 1987. These
sanctions include a freeze on the
Panama canal revenues and on
Panamanian assets in the US. As a
result, Panama has suffered an
economic crisis which has reduced
output by 25%. Meanwhile, the US is
also threatening to seize the General’s
assets in the US and Europe or impose
additional sanctions like prohibiting
trade between the US and Panama
thereby squeezing the noose on
Panama’s economy and _ deepening
Panama’s economic crisis.
The US has also recalled its am-
bassador to Panama, Arthur Davis who
left on May 15th. At the same time, it
ordered all US citizens to move on to
the US military bases. Last year, US
courts indicted Noriega on drug traf-
ficing charges in a Florida court trying
to discredit him morally on the inter-
national level.
Other maneuvers include Bush’s of-
fering the carrot to the Panamanian
people by saying that if Noriega were to
step down from office then the rela-
tions with the US world improve
dramatically and instantly.
The US has even gone so far as to
give the green light to the Panamanian
Defense Forces to overthrow Noriega.
Bush said, «I would love to see them
(PDF) get him out. He’s one man and
they have a well-trained force.» (Inter-
national Herald-Tribune, May 18)
MILITARY BUILD—UP
Since unilateral sanctions have not
worked, the US resorted to the military
option. The over 10,000 US troops in
Panama were put on a very high state
of alert following the elections. Addi- P
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