Deposed Panama President Vows He’ll Remain ‘Obstacle’ to Noriega

WASHINGTON — Deposed Panamanian President Eric A. Delvalle, in a weekend interview, said he is determined to stay in hiding in Panama and remain “the obstacle” to the “pretensions of staying in power” of Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, who forced Delvalle out of office Feb. 26.

Talking with Cable News Network at a hiding place in Panama, Delvalle said that he hopes Noriega can be ousted “very soon,” either by “Panamanian military people” or by “a multinational force--not a U.S. force . . . which should come in and take Noriega out.”

Delvalle said that Noriega is “taking us to a socialistic government” even as he decries the political left. Under him, Delvalle said, free press, free assembly, schools and banks have disappeared from Panama, and “we have gone away from free enterprise and capitalism.”

Delvalle denied that pressure from the United States had led to his break with Noriega but said that the rupture came after months of efforts to convince the strongman that the country was becoming “ungovernable.”

Asked if he had received any guarantees of U.S. aid if Noriega can be deposed or persuaded to leave the country, Delvalle said his group has been asked about its economic needs, and “I think it’s more than what we have anticipated.” While Noriega is a “looked-for criminal” indicted in Florida on U.S. narcotics charges, Delvalle conceded that it may prove difficult to arrange for military intervention because Latin American nations traditionally do not become “involved in another country’s political infights.”

“But this isn’t a political infight,” Delvalle said. “Panama has been invaded by Cubans, by Cuban advisers, by Nicaraguans and by the narco (narcotics) cartel of Medellin that has taken hold of our national forces.”