Military’s Iron Fist Rules Panama : Latin Democratic Trend Ignored as Civilians Lose Posts

Bucking a democratic trend found elsewhere in Latin America, Panama’s armed forces are dominating their government more and more.

Under the critical eye of the top military commander, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, civilian presidents come and go, seemingly at the military’s whim, and military men are being installed in posts previously held by civilians.

At the same time, human rights abuses are on the rise, and reports of corruption appear frequently in the local press.

Relations with the United States, which is bound by treaty to turn full operation of the Panama Canal over to Panama by the year 2000, have cooled considerably as hopes have faded that the military will retreat to the barracks.

Influence of Military

In recent congressional testimony, the newly named U.S. ambassador to Panama, Arthur Davis, commented that, throughout the negotiations on the canal treaties, Washington made clear its desire that “civil authorities take charge of the military forces.” But this “has not happened, and the military still has great influence in Panamanian politics,” Davis said.

In a show of disapproval, Washington recently diverted $14 million in aid from Panama to Guatemala, where an elected civilian president has taken office.

The military here, the Panama Defense Forces, flexes its muscles occasionally. Not long ago it helped break a weeklong wave of strikes by occupying the country’s only oil refinery.

Also, a controversial package of labor reforms, which include reductions in overtime pay, breezed through the legislature, which is dominated by the military-controlled Democratic Revolutionary Party.

Harsh Steps Taken

Perhaps more disturbing to some local observers are steps taken against those who oppose the defense forces’ role.

Last fall, the headless body of Hugo Spadafora, a political activist and harsh critic of the military, was found across the border in Costa Rica. Spadafora is said to have been last seen alive in the custody of defense forces troops.

Nicolas Ardito Barletta, who was president at the time, considered ordering an investigation into Spadafora’s death, but the idea was quashed by Noriega, who then forced Ardito Barletta to resign.

The vice president, Eric A. Delvalle, took over as Panama’s fifth president in three years, and he has gone out of his way to defer to the military. Not long after taking office, he said he was opposed to “destroying the umbilical cord between the executive and the defense forces.”

On Way to Democracy

At least until 1983, U.S. officials encouraged the notion that Panama, long subject to military rule, was on its way to building a genuine democracy. This suggested that civilian hands were needed to sort out the country’s economic mess.

The bubble burst in 1984, when President Ricardo de la Espriella resigned in a political dispute with Noriega. At issue was whether the military should be allowed to rally the large corps of bureaucrats in support of the presidential candidate favored by the defense forces.

De la Espriella resisted and was forced out. The election pitted Arnulfo Arias, an elderly populist politician and past president, against banker Ardito Barletta, who was the military’s candidate. Ardito Barletta won--helped by fraud, according to the opposition--but he did not last a year in office.

Besides involving itself with the presidency, the military has begun to take control of civilian departments. In recent months, the agencies responsible for civil aviation, the railroads, immigration, reforestation and public health have all been taken over by the military.

Suits and Uniforms

Noriega, 47, who has taken to alternating white suits with his dress-green uniform, has established a shadow Cabinet of advisers in economics, foreign affairs and other fields.

His picture appears on a poster that can be seen around Panama City, paired with the dove of peace and the words “Welcome to He Who Brings Peace.”

The defense forces’ personnel total 15,000, but the military is scheduled to expand to 25,000 by the end of the century. The curriculum at a new officer training school suggests that there is no intention of returning to the barracks. Among the courses offered are economics, law and philosophy.

“A modern army can’t just be a bunch of brutes,” a defense forces spokesman, Maj. Edgardo Lopez, said recently. “If we’re going to participate in the development of the country, we have to get ready.”

Freedoms in Jeopardy

Such participation may run counter to some of the freedoms guaranteed by Panama’s constitution. But some of those freedoms appear to be in jeopardy already. Recently a political columnist was jailed briefly for writing a series of critical articles about the defense forces and its record on human rights.

Meanwhile, opponents of military power have taken heart from events in Haiti and the Philippines. A sign displayed in a recent anti-government march said, “Down With the Thin Baby Doc,” a reference to Delvalle and Haiti’s deposed president, the plump Jean-Claude Duvalier.

“Like the Filipinos, we, too, will follow the nonviolent road and bring down the dictatorship,” Winston Spadafora, a lawyer and brother of the slain activist, said the other day.

But there seems to be little likelihood that Panama’s present military-dominated government will be turned out soon. The opposition is not well organized. Strikers who protested the change in the labor laws balked at making a sharp break with the government and the military.

Fear Is a Factor

Fear is also a factor. Two unexploded bombs were found recently at a cafeteria where Winston Spadafora often visits a friend. Other bombs placed in the city during the strikes raised the specter of a military crackdown.

Most of the bombs were defused without incident, but one exploded and tore off the arm of a woman passer-by. During the strikes, a looter was shot dead.

The tightening of military control coincides with difficult economic times in Panama. Unemployment is estimated at 25%, and the government is heavily in debt to foreign banks, although it is expected to meet its payments of more than $500 million a year.

In negotiations on refinancing the debt, creditors are demanding that the government reduce spending. But this will be difficult because the Panamanian government employs one of every four working citizens.