After American Show of Force, Panama Returns U.S. Shipment

Panama’s military, faced with a show of force by American troops, returned a shipment of U.S. military equipment it had seized, the State Department said Friday.

The equipment, meant for the Southern Command, the U.S. military headquarters in Panama, had been seized Thursday from a U.S.-registered ship by the Panama Defense Forces, officials said. The equipment included a gun barrel for an M-1 Abrams tank.

Sondra McCarty, a State Department spokeswoman, said Friday that the materiel, including the gun barrel, was returned “after a forceful U.S. response.”

Heightened Alert

She said the response included the movement of some U.S. troops to the Atlantic side of their military bases and “a heightened alert status of certain military units.”

The department did not say how many troops were moved or how much the alert status was raised.

The Panama Defense Forces recognized that it had violated the Panama Canal treaties by seizing the materiel and that the U.S. shipments “were clearly authorized,” she said.

Earlier, Phyllis Oakley, another State Department spokeswoman, said, “Nothing in the canal treaty or related agreements prevents the United States from receiving shipments of military supplies or equipment through this port.”

However, Panamanian Customs Director Virgilio Ramon said the military equipment had entered the country in violation of Panamanian customs law.

“These combat materials were declared on a bill of lading that accompanied the shipment as ‘dry goods,’ ” Ramon said.

Panamanian port authorities added that the company responsible for the shipment will be harshly sanctioned.

The incident raised tensions in a war of political and economic pressure involving the two nations.

Panama’s president, Manuel Solis Palma, speaking to the U.N. General Assembly this week, accused the United States of waging a war of economic aggression and disinformation against his government.

The State Department has refused to deal directly with the Panamanian government, which is dominated by Gen. Manuel A. Noriega. Noriega is under indictment in Florida on drug-trafficking charges.