Foes of Noriega See U.S. as Timid : Panamanians Resentful as Strongman Remains Defiant

As Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega defiantly thumbs his nose at the campaign to oust him, frustrated opposition leaders are expressing growing resentment at what they view as discord and timidity within the Reagan Administration in a crucial phase of the anti-Noriega struggle.

Some analysts, however, question whether any U.S. steps short of military action can shake Noriega from power soon unless the opposition crusade itself becomes more effective in mobilizing ordinary Panamanians.

The National Civic Crusade, a coalition of more than 200 opposition groups formed last June to force Gen. Noriega into exile, appears at the moment to be drifting, groping for ways to regain the momentum of strikes and protests of recent weeks in the face of harsher government repression. Some supporters are looking to the United States for help.

“The general feeling is that the United States should help us to remove the monster they created,” said a 20-year veteran of the opposition movement, who asked not to be named for fear of being forced into exile for a third time. “It’s impossible for us to do it ourselves. They are very well armed.”

Sentiment is widespread that the United States endorsed the seizure of power in 1968 by a military junta led by then-Col. Omar Torrijos, who four years later installed a puppet civilian president and effectively ruled the country until his death in 1981. Noriega became commander in chief in August, 1983, and has ruled through pliant civilian presidents since then.

Corruption Ignored

Many Panamanians also are convinced that the United States has known for years of virulent corruption in Noriega’s government, including drug trafficking and laundering of drug money, but ignored it for tactical reasons until Noriega’s indictment in February by two grand juries in Florida on drug charges.

“The U.S. knew about all that, but they built a monster, and protected the monster, and trained his army,” the veteran activist said.

“But the worst part is that even now the Americans are split, and that while the State Department is pushing for change, the Defense Department and the CIA are blocking any action,” he asserted. “And as long as Noriega knows this, he will resist.”

Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci has been reported as opposing any U.S. military action to end Noriega’s rule, while Secretary of State George P. Shultz has apparently advocated applying that kind of pressure.

Lita Arias, an executive member of the Civic Crusade, said: “What I and the crusade resent is that we are fighting a war for the United States. Noriega is our problem, but he is also a problem for the United States. We are fighting a drugs and arms war for the United States.”

Arias said the movement neither sought nor wanted a U.S. invasion of Panama. But she said that the United States should have imposed more severe economic measures sooner and that it should do more still, although she did not specify what could be done.

She welcomed President Reagan’s decision Friday to impose a mandatory ban against payment of taxes to Noriega by U.S. firms in Panama. But she said that “these new sanctions should have been part of the first group” of measures.

In early March, Washington took action that enabled U.S. courts to freeze an estimated $50 million in Panamanian government assets in U.S. banks. Washington also halted payments of Panama Canal fees to Noriega’s government. These actions resulted in Panama’s local banks closing indefinitely for lack of dollars, leaving the government broke, forcing factories to close and keeping cash from people’s pockets. Panama uses the U.S. dollar as its currency.

Government employees are at least two weeks behind in pay, and some civil servants have gone on forced unpaid vacation. Most stores have reopened after a nearly total two-week general commercial strike, but there are few customers. Some families are going to stay with relatives in the tropical countryside, where at least food is available.

The crisis has failed to topple Noriega, and public protests have largely subsided for the moment.

Temporary lulls have occurred before in the 10 months of turmoil since the crusade was formed. But few thought Noriega would be able to survive for more than days or weeks after the U.S. government abandoned him and declared its full support for the opposition.

“Some political leaders are starting to show resentment toward the United States. They are fearful that the U.S. has led them into the middle of the river, and now might cut them loose,” one diplomat said. Another said: “Both sides are saying that the United States is courting a backlash--that the longer Noriega stays, the more people will say, the gringos got us into it and now they are leaving us hanging.”

The diplomat noted that Panamanians, fearful of an effective informer network and zealous crushing of protests by the authorities, have no tradition of taking on police in the streets.

He said that while unpaid government workers may turn against Noriega, members of the officer corps closest to him are largely insulated from the economic hardship because they have illicit sources of cash and their own housing complexes and shops.

American officials acknowledge that beyond the physical risks of a military invasion or other action, such as kidnaping Noriega, lie broader concerns over the implications for U.S. relations in all of Latin America, and for the next Panamanian government.

“Which democratic government in Panama is going to have a better chance?” a U.S. diplomat asked. “One imposed by economic sanctions, or one imposed by military action?” Visiting Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) was confronted during a visit last month by Panamanians asking why the United States lacks the courage to invade and finish the job. He replied, according to an official who was there, “If you’re not willing to go out in the streets and die for democracy in Panama, why should my constituents come down here and die for your democracy?”

Many of the crusade leaders are new to political activism, and arelearning the intricacies of organizing day by day. They have been quicker to show frustration at setbacks than hardened militants would be. Their ranks have also been thinned by arrests, and many leaders are in hiding.

In place of holding almost daily news conferences, as they used to do, crusade officials now make furtive contact with foreign reporters by telephone. Noriega has shut down opposition media, depriving his foes of ways to reach the public.

The crusade leaders, including prominent businessmen like Chamber of Commerce President Aurelio Barria, bristle at the image fostered by Noriega’s supporters that the opposition represents the white and wealthy while the general represents the black and poor.

While they acknowledge their failure to enlist much union support, crusade leaders respond that Noriega over the years has built up stooge unions whose leaders are under his control and whose members are cowed by fears of reprisals but are still quietly supportive of their cause.