U.S. Weighs Economic Blow at Panama

Faced with stubborn resistance from Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega, who faces federal indictments in Florida for drug trafficking, U.S. officials Sunday weighed economic options aimed at unseating him.

“There isn’t much in the inventory,” said an Administration official knowledgeable about U.S. Latin American policy. “Economic pressure is all we’ve got.” The official asked that he not be identified.

However, another U.S. official familiar with Panama, who also spoke on condition that he not be identified, voiced doubt about economic sanctions.

“You may find that nobody else cooperates, in which case they’re ineffective,” the official said. “Or, if everybody cooperates and the pressure builds, the economy could collapse, something it’s not too far away from right now. This could take years to repair and leave a bitter aftertaste.”

Envoy Backs Sanctions

Panama’s ambassador to Washington, Juan B. Sosa, a Noriega opponent, said in a television interview that the possibility of mounting an economic embargo against the Noriega regime was not discussed when he met Saturday with Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, but Sosa indicated his personal support for this approach.

“I have been, in principle, against trade embargoes, but in this special case, in which the future of the nation is at stake, I think we are ready and we are willing to go into heroic measures,” Sosa said in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley.”

He said that Panama’s economy is already in crisis.

The ambassador said he hopes that any U.S. embargo would be supported by all Western nations.

Interviewed on the same program, Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that a trade embargo would risk creating a backlash against “big brother from the north,” but he suggested that Washington could simply stop buying from Panama.

“Sixty percent of all the exports from Panama come to the United States, and they’re exports that we could easily get from other countries,” Boren said. “They simply couldn’t find other markets, so if we want to have impact right now, I think it’s economic leverage that we should consider.”

Noriega Interviewed

Interviewed Sunday evening on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Noriega denied that he would ever threaten U.S. troops or civilians in Panama--because “we are a civilized country.” He also denied charges of drug trafficking.

“The accusations are a low political blow,” he said. “For 18 years I have been cooperating in the battle against drugs. . . . When nobody else was working to combat drugs, Panama was.”

John C. Lawn, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, talked about Noriega’s alleged role in drug trafficking in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

The DEA “has worked very closely with Gen. Noriega,” who has “always cooperated,” Lawn said. But the agency had also received “allegations of corruption” that touched off a two-year investigation by a group of DEA agents in Miami. Their inquiries led to Noriega’s indictment on drug charges Feb. 5 in Miami, Lawn said.

Lawn confirmed that he had sent Noriega two “action letters” of thanks for specific assistance to the DEA, but he denied a suggestion that they amounted to “character references.”

Asked if Noriega did more than betray “a couple of low-level drug guys” to the DEA, Lawn said that Noriega had tipped off the agency to Milian Rodriguez, a self-described courier for a drug cartel who is now in prison.

Lawn said that Noriega also permitted the search of 75 Panamanian vessels, yielding large quantities of drugs, and handed over persons sought by the United States in Panama. But he said the grand jury acted on “sufficient information” in indicting Noriega.