Noriega’s Foes Plan to Open Own Radio Station

A clandestine radio station is expected to start broadcasting soon in support of the campaign to oust Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, giving the opposition a way to reach the public and to counter the government-controlled media, sources here and in Washington said Tuesday.

The U.S. government, which is backing the struggle against Noriega through economic sanctions, is evidently helping to organize the broadcast service. Intelligence sources in Washington said President Reagan last week authorized a covert operation to assist the radio service.

Opposition leaders say their campaign has faltered, in part because the government dominates virtually all sources of information, and the media spew out a stream of pro-Noriega, anti-American messages each day. A clandestine radio service, they say, could prove a valuable way of getting out word on demonstrations and other activities, as well as balancing the government’s message.

A leader of the opposition National Civic Crusade, who asked that he not be identified, said in an interview that the organization hopes the broadcasts will begin within 10 days.

Among the options, he said, is to beam a brief but powerful signal to government transmitters that relay the official Radio Nacional, overpowering the authorized emission with crusade information. That way, listeners tuned in to the main government station would hear three- to four-minute messages from the opposition on a regular frequency and not have to hunt around the dial for the clandestine signal. The service may use mobile transmitters to make detection more difficult, he said.

In March, visiting U.S. Reps. Peter H. Kostmayer (D-Pa.) and Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) said that they would recommend to Congress and the Administration that the United States provide a radio transmitter so that “the Panamanian people can have a reliable and independent source of information.”

Kostmayer said in Washington on Tuesday, “I think there is a direct relationship between the possibility that they will get such a transmitter and U.S. opposition to Noriega.”

After sending an additional 1,300 troops to U.S. bases in Panama and intensifying economic sanctions against Noriega, the Administration has sought additional ways to step up the pressure. Noriega’s refusal to bend under the current measures, which have ravaged the Panamanian economy, has fostered frustration within the crusade and among American policy-makers.

In Washington, officials said a State Department official visited Panama secretly last weekend to assess the effect of the sanctions, the Washington Post reported. The officials, who asked not to be named, identified him as Michael G. Kozak, deputy to Assistant Secretary of State Elliot Abrams.