Reagan Bars Intervention as Panama Crisis Deepens : Bush Takes Harder Line on Force

President Reagan said today he has no plan to intervene militarily in Panama as U.S. officials scrambled to assess “a precarious position” brought on in part by federal drug-smuggling indictments of strongman Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega.

But the State Department said the United States will continue to recognize Eric Arturo Delvalle as president of Panama, despite a parliamentary vote to oust him and replace him with former Education Minister Manuel Solis Palma.

The National Assembly moved against Delvalle after he tried to dismiss Noriega, who was indicted by federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa, Fla., earlier this month.

Amid the continuing political instability, Vice President George Bush took a harder line, saying the United States should do “whatever is necessary” to protect American interests in the Central American country.

But Reagan said he does not believe there is “any appetite on the part of anyone there, including Mr. Noriega, to take on our troops.”

Denies Influencing Action

Responding to questions during a picture-taking session with Southern GOP leaders, the President said the United States did not instigate Delvalle’s move Thursday. But he also said U.S. officials were “very much aware of it.”

Asked whether the United States is contemplating military intervention there, the President replied, “No, I don’t think that’s an answer.” He declined to discuss other alternatives, saying: “We’re not prepared to come up with any answers as yet.”

Reagan said that he feels “there are some limits on what we can do,” but that “we’re looking at that situation, and our people are meeting on it to see if there’s anything we can do.”

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said earlier there was no Administration interest in a proposal by Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) to impose trade sanctions against Panama.

Bush, campaigning to succeed Reagan, told the South Carolina Press Assn.: “We will do whatever is necessary to protect American interests in Panama. We’ve got treaty interests on the (Panama) Canal. I don’t want to rattle any sabers. . . . but we would obviously as the United States, and I would, reserve the right to do whatever is necessary, including military force, to protect America’s sacred interest in that region of the world.”

Recalls History in Area

He stopped short of directly calling for military intervention, however, saying the United States’ history of intervention in Latin American affairs is “what’s hurting us in some areas now.” About 10,000 American troops are stationed in Panama.

From Capitol Hill, the Administration got conflicting advice on how to handle the situation.

Senate Democrats urged caution, while D’Amato advocated the trade embargo and Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) called Noriega “a bum” and said “he ought to be thrown out.”

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) said the United States “ought to keep cool” and “make haste slowly” to give the Panamanian people ample time to decide Noriega’s fate.

Fitzwater confirmed that Delvalle had held talks at the U.S. Embassy in Panama City before moving to oust Noriega on Thursday, but he denied that the Administration had lent any encouragement to the Panamanian president.

“There’s not a lot that we can say about impressions,” the spokesman said. “The United States has a large interest there, obviously. But we have tried to walk the line between what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. We have a precarious position. . . . “

“We want to be careful not to unduly intrude upon the affairs of Panama,” Fitzwater added.