U.S. Reassures Delvalle, His Wife Says

Panama’s president-in-hiding, Eric A. Delvalle, has received promises from the United States of new steps to speed the ouster of Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, Delvalle’s wife said Wednesday.

The assurances have persuaded Delvalle to continue backing efforts to bring down the military strongman, Mariela Delvalle said. Her husband has met with U.S. officials in recent days, she added.

“Everything is moving as it should, in its rightful time, “ she quoted her husband as saying. “This is going to be resolved soon.”

Delvalle’s wife said she does not know what promises of quicker action her husband received. “There is something. Something. That is all I know,” she said.

The reassurances short-circuited a potentially embarrassing rebellion by Delvalle against U.S. policy. Delvalle cooperation is critical because U.S. steps to squeeze the country’s economy and force Noriega from power have been taken in Delvalle’s name.

The Reagan Administration recognizes Delvalle as Panama’s real president, although he was deposed in February and went into hiding.

Among steps taken by the United States in Delvalle’s behalf have been the freezing of Panamanian government funds in American banks and the retention of Panama Canal fees.

And Wednesday, Administration sources in Washington said new, tougher economic sanctions--which would effectively block any payments from American companies and individuals to the Noriega regime--have been suggested.

The Panamanian government, objecting to Delvalle’s support of earlier U.S. economic sanctions, Wednesday ordered the arrest of the deposed president.

Assistant federal prosecutor Alvaro Visuetti said on government television that his office had issued arrest warrants for Delvalle, as well as for Panamanian Ambassador to the United States Juan B. Sosa and Gabriel Lewis Galindo, an opposition businessman in Washington.

Sources in Panama City had said this week that Delvalle’s will was flagging and that he had threatened to abandon his internal exile and perhaps leave Panama.

Mariela Delvalle, 49, said her husband became “desperate” for a quick solution last Wednesday after previous assurances from the United States that Noriega would fall soon proved wrong.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that “to the best of our knowledge,” Delvalle had made no threat to resign out of frustration with U.S. policy. Such a threat was reported Wednesday by The Times.

Delvalle sent his wife a letter in which he expressed dismay about the situation. Delvalle told U.S. officials to “do something between now and Sunday or I go. I cannot last through Sunday,” Mrs. Delvalle quoted her husband as saying.

By Tuesday, Delvalle had changed his mind. “His fighting spirit returned. He is not abandoning the country,” he said.

Mariela Delvalle gave the letter to U.S. Ambassador Arthur Davis to forward to Washington. She declined to produce a copy and U.S. Embassy officials refused to discuss the letter.

The interview with Mariela Delvalle was held on the condition that her location not be disclosed.

She reported that she has not seen her husband since he went into hiding on Feb. 26. They communicate by messages delivered through intermediaries, she added.

Delvalle lost his job after trying to dismiss Noriega from command of Panama’s 15,000-member Defense Forces. Delvalle was replaced by Manuel Solis Palma, a close associate of Noriega’s.

Since Delvalle’s ouster, strikes and demonstrations have been commonplace in Panama. On Wednesday, police used tear gas and birdshot to disperse demonstrators holding an anti-Noriega march in downtown Panama City. There were also reports that the government had accepted an offer by the Roman Catholic Church to mediate talks between representatives of Noriega and opposition figures, but details were unclear.