Panama Strike Closes Most Stores, Industry : Capital a Virtual Ghost Town; Noriega Makes Offer to Step Down, but Opposition Rejects Plan

A general strike virtually shut down all retail outlets and industry in Panama City on Monday in the strongest display to date of business opposition to the rule of Gen. Manuel A. Noriega.

For the first time, merchants in the working-class Central Avenue shopping district of the capital fully joined an anti-Noriega strike. The usually bustling avenue was almost devoid of shoppers, while a few soldiers toting M-16 rifles patrolled the sidewalks.

The military strongman made a highly conditional offer to step down sometime before presidential elections scheduled for May, 1989. But his opponents, who want him to give up power right away, immediately rejected the offer, and the United States called it a ploy to maintain control.

The Panama Defense Forces, which Noriega commands, announced major changes in its officer ranks with the naming of three new colonels, five new lieutenant colonels and numerous majors, captains and lieutenants. In all, 97 officers were promoted one rank.

On Heels of Failed Coup

The promotions came on the heels of a failed coup attempt last week by officers opposed to Noriega’s continued leadership of the 15,000-member Defense Forces, the nation’s sole military and police organization. The promotions appeared aimed at rewarding officers who remained loyal to Noriega.

In addition, the Defense Forces filled gaps in assignments left by officers involved in the coup and who may now be under arrest, in hiding or merely out of favor. A source with close knowledge of the workings of the Defense Forces has estimated that about 100 officers may have sympathized with or participated in the coup attempt.

The promotions were the first of any sort in two years.

Panama City took on the air of a commercial ghost town Monday. The general strike was called by the Civic Crusade, an alliance of business and trade groups that has spearheaded public resistance to Noriega here during the past nine months.

Crusade activists say the strike will last indefinitely.

Some stores within a block of Noriega’s headquarters in the crowded Chorrillo neighborhood were shut, with their metal roll-down doors pulled tight.

In the capital’s high-rise financial district, show windows of stores were covered by iron gratings, as if it were Sunday rather than the first day of the workweek.

Merchants in the financial district have customarily rallied around calls made by the Civic Crusade to shut down retail operations to protest Noriega’s rule.

Crusade leaders declared themselves pleased at the strike’s effectiveness Monday. “It was just about totally successful,” said Carlos Gonzalez de la Lastra, a crusade leader. He said that only “mom and pop” grocery stores, gas stations and a few restaurants were open.

Fear of Deportation

The Civic Crusade apparently was able to overcome the worries of Central Avenue merchants that they would face retaliation from the government if they closed their doors. Some of the merchants are Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East who fear they could be deported if they confront Noriega.

Civic Crusade leaders, it appears, were their own worst enemies in trying to woo the merchants to their side. Many crusade leaders did little to hide anti-Semitic sentiments that offended the Jewish merchants.

In any case, one Central Avenue merchant said that despite the obstacles, retailers on the street decided that “we, too, wanted a change,” and declared themselves in favor of the strike.

The general commercial strike coincides with labor stoppages by several public employee unions, including those representing teachers, dockworkers and electrical and water workers.

Unable to Pay Salaries

The public employees have struck because the government is unable to pay their full salaries. Courts in the United States have frozen Panamanian government funds held there.

The unions, who focus more on economic than on political matters, have not coordinated their strikes with the Crusade, and they could end their walkouts if Noriega finds ways to pay the workers in full.

Despite the virtual paralysis of commerce in the capital city, there was no overt sign that Noriega had lost his grip on power. During the last week, he has not only survived an officers’ coup attempt but also resisted offers by the United States to ease him into exile.

Noriega is wanted in the United States on drug smuggling charges. Two representatives of the State Department traveled to Panama over the weekend to offer him a chance to go into exile rather than face prosecution.

Noriega’s offer to step down next year was made through Panama’s nominal civilian president, Manuel Solis Palma, in a speech broadcast nationwide on radio and television.

The offer, which was not much different than suggestions made before by people close to Noriega, was conditioned on the opening and eventual success of talks between the government and “political forces” in the country.

“Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega has put at my disposal his post (as armed forces commander), giving his word as a soldier and a man to separate himself opportunely from his command before the electoral process, as a guarantee of free election,” Solis said.

“But I conditioned the use of this power,” Solis added, “on the results of a national dialogue in which all the political forces of the country participate. If not, no.”

Noriega, interviewed briefly by The Times outside Panama’s whitewashed presidential palace, where Solis spoke, said he “liked” the plan “because it is a Panamanian solution.”

In a statement issued in Washington, the State Department said: “We believe the offer is little more than one, a ploy to attempt to legitimize the illegal Solis Palma regime by calling for negotiations between it and opposition groups and two, an effort on the part of Noriega to maintain direct or indirect control of the Panamanian Defense Forces.”

Leaders of the Civic Crusade, an anti-Noriega business and trade alliance, scorned the speech. “Since June, the people of Panama have been saying, ‘Noriega, get out, now.’ We mean now. We want an end to the nightmare Panama has been living in,” said Pierre Leignadier, a crusade leader.

Foreign analysts said the Noriega offer seemed aimed at gathering support from Latin American countries for himself and the government he dominates. Solis made several calls for support from Latin governments, and his speech was broadcast live by radio to nine Latin countries and to Spain.

The military promotion announced Monday included some obvious evidence that Noriega was trying to shore up his personal hold on the armed forces.

He promoted the head of the police force, Eros Ramiro Cal, from lieutenant colonel to colonel. Cal had replaced Leonidas Macias, who was the leader of the failed coup and who is reported to be under arrest.

Noriega also promoted his brother-in-law to lieutenant colonel. He rewarded some lower-ranking officers who, in a key moment, supposedly resisted Macias’ attempt to take over Noriega’s headquarters last week. One, Capt. Moises Giroldi, who had been briefly put under arrest by Macias, was promoted to major on Monday.

The civilian government, meanwhile, continued to float plans aimed at resolving the economic crisis that has shaken the country for three weeks. Details of the proposals were spotty, and no one could say for sure whether Noriega has the will or the means to overcome the nation’s economic paralysis.

Reducing U.S. Influence

Commerce Minister Mario Rognoni told The Times that the government is attempting to find ways to reduce U.S. influence in the economy. He said that import restrictions may be imposed, that Panama might try to become more self-sufficient in food and that reliance on foreign banking as a pillar of the economy might be sacrificed in order to pull Panama away from dependence on an industry under U.S. influence.

“We perhaps came too late to the conclusion that we are vulnerable to United States pressure,” he said.

Rognoni said that no decision has been made to discard the American dollar as the official currency of Panama. The printing of Panamanian money would sever a longtime tie to the United States that has made it possible for the Reagan Administration to squeeze the Panamanian economy by blocking the transfer of dollars to the government here.