Noriega Offer to Quit in April Told
Former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez said Wednesday that Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega will resign in April and accept an offer of exile in Spain if a national agreement is reached to restore democracy in Panama.
Perez said his negotiations via telephone for Gen. Noriega’s departure concern reforming the electoral law and the electoral tribunal and setting a new timetable for elections, now scheduled for May, 1989.
“The beginning of the electoral process in Panama . . . is a clear indication that Noriega will quit,” Perez told reporters. “Noriega himself indicated that once the process begins, he will leave the post.”
Noriega has repeatedly said he wants stay in Panama until May, 1989. The general was not available for comment on Perez’s statement.
Perez also said that next month is an opportune time for Noriega to leave Panama because he will have completed 25 years of active military service.
Perez met with President Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa Rica and Spanish President Felipe Gonzalez in San Jose, Costa Rica, last weekend to discuss the turmoil in Panama.
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