Trouble on the Isthmus

The government of Panama was able to suppress the spontaneous rioting that broke out there when groups of angry citizens began demanding political change. But the need for more democracy, and less corruption, in Panama remains. Unless the military clique that controls power in that nation responds, trouble is likely to recur.

The rioting started within days after Panamanian newspapers began reporting allegations that the country’s current strongman, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, was deeply involved in several scandals and other incidents that have rocked Panama in recent years--among them a fraudulent election in 1984, the murder of a prominent opposition politician in 1985, and even the death of former Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos in 1981.

Noriega’s many critics have accused him of corruption ever since he succeeded Torrijos, a genuinely popular leader who died in a mysterious plane crash. The most recent allegations are noteworthy because they were made by a high-ranking military man, Col. Roberto Diaz Herrera. Diaz was recently ousted from his job as the No. 2 man to Noriega, so it is presumed that he has personal reasons for accusing his former boss of wrongdoing. Some of Diaz’ charges, particularly with regard to Torrijos’ death, also strain credulity. He has accused several U.S. government officials of joining Noriega in a plot to bomb Torrijos’ plane, for example.

But details of Diaz’ allegations aside, what has stirred the collective anger of so many Panamanians is the fact that he is the most authoritative source so far to confirm what many people had suspected: that Noriega dominates a clique of high-ranking officers who control the nation’s weak civilian government from behind the scenes, and who use this influence to personally enrich themselves. Diaz himself has admitted to the Panamanian press that he sold Panamanian visas to Cubans and used the illicit profits to live in grand style.

Previously when charges of corruption have been made against Noriega, like hints by the Reagan Administration that he may be linked to drug trafficking, the general has arrogantly dismissed them as the malicious gossip of outsiders trying to undermine Panama’s democracy. But now the stories are coming from the inside, and they suggest that the biggest threat to democracy in Panama is Noriega and his thuggish clique.

Opposition political leaders in Panama are demanding a full investigation of Diaz’ claims by neutral parties, and U.S. State Department spokesmen say that this country “strongly supports efforts to get out all the facts.” That is a good start, but getting all the facts is the least that the Panamanian people deserve. If even some of Diaz’ allegations are true, they also deserve new elections in which they can honestly pick new political leaders--preferably civilians who can be trusted.