New U.S. Proposal to Ease Out Noriega Reported

Searching for a way to remove Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega from power, the Reagan Administration has proposed that if Noriega steps down, his handpicked president could remain in office until elections in Panama next year, according to knowledgeable Panamanian sources.

Juan B. Sosa, ambassador to Washington of the government of deposed Panamanian President Eric A. Delvalle, immediately denounced the proposed deal as “not acceptable” to opposition forces and said that it would lead to continued unrest in Panama.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the proposal, which follows a string of unsuccessful Administration moves to try to force Noriega out. Indictments on drug-dealing and money-laundering charges by two Florida grand juries and three months of economic pressure have only hardened the Panamanian general’s resolve to cling to power.

The United States does not recognize Manuel Solis Palma, who was installed as president by the Panamanian legislature after it dismissed Delvalle at Noriega’s behest in February. Delvalle has remained a powerless president-in-hiding while the United States attempts to negotiate Noriega’s ouster.

Oppose Latest Plan

Sosa said that Delvalle and the National Civic Crusade, a coalition of Panamanian groups seeking Noriega’s ouster, vehemently oppose the latest U.S. plan and question the legitimacy of any private bargain struck between the Reagan Administration and Noriega.

“We have had assurances from the State Department in the past that they would not negotiate the future of Panama; that is for the Panamanians to decide,” Sosa said in an interview Sunday.

Any deal that forces Noriega from office but allows Solis to stay is “not acceptable,” Sosa added. Such a deal would leave the power structure Noriega created intact, he said, “and he can come back any time and steal the election because he controls the government.”

“I doubt very much that a deal like that would be signed, because it makes no sense,” Sosa said. “What good would a signed deal between the U.S. and Noriega do if the democratic forces do not accept it?”

U.S. Negotiators in Panama

U.S. officials, led by State Department negotiator Michael G. Kozak, are now in Panama seeking a formula that would lead to Noriega’s departure while salvaging Washington’s credibility in Panama and the region.

Current U.S. efforts may have exactly the opposite effect, Panamanian Commerce Minister Mario Rognoni, a key Noriega adviser, suggested Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said that Noriega is more popular than ever and would be a formidable presidential candidate in next year’s elections, even if the United States succeeds in forcing him from power in the next few months.

“I think that right now Gen. Noriega, because of the fight that he has done with the nationalistic flag against the U.S., has become a political figure in our country. . . ,” Rognoni said. “Even if he stopped being a general and member of the military, he still will be a political force because of the charisma that he has developed politically lately.”

Rognoni confirmed that U.S. officials are now in Panama discussing terms of a deal that would remove Noriega from power.

“But we don’t consider this official negotiations,” he said. “We consider it more conversations on the subject.”

Rognoni said the Noriega government has three key demands.

“We feel that you have to lift the (economic) sanctions. You have to drop a political indictment that is part of the terrorism that the United States is exercising on our officers. And you have to respect our sovereignty.”