Panamanian Diplomat Quits Post, Denounces Regime’s ‘Corruption’

A veteran Panamanian diplomat in Washington quit his post Friday, saying he can no longer serve a government “characterized by corruption, illegitimacy and dishonesty.”

Lawrence Chewning Fabrega, a member of the Panamanian delegation to the Organization of American States (OAS), said his resignation was prompted by an anti-U.S. statement he had been ordered to make.

His action followed three days of Senate testimony this week in which Panama’s de facto ruler, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, was accused of widespread corruption.

Noriega has been indicted by two U.S. grand juries on charges of drug smuggling and money laundering.

Chewning, 46, declined to comment on these charges, to which Noriega has responded with bitter attacks on the United States.

The attacks were continued in a statement that Chewning was required to make at an OAS ceremony Tuesday marking the accession of West Germany to the Panama Canal treaty’s neutrality protocol.

The statement accused Washington of seeking to justify non-compliance with the canal treaties signed by then-President Jimmy Carter and of carrying out a campaign of defamation against the Panamanian government.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that these remarks were not written by me, not did they represent the way I feel or think,” Chewning told a news conference at OAS headquarters.

Chewning said he was ordered to make the anti-U.S. statement by Panama’s OAS ambassador, Roberto Layton, and the Foreign Ministry.

“For over 20 years, I have worked for the Panama foreign service as honestly and efficiently as possible, having served both at our Foreign Ministry and abroad,” he said.

“But my conscience, my dignity and my deep religious beliefs prevent me from continuing to be used as an instrument of a government characterized by corruption, illegitimacy and dishonesty.”