The World - News from Feb. 20, 1989

Panama cut electricity to 77 homes rented by the U.S. military in the Panama Canal area, charging the tenants had not paid their rent, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command said. More than 100 people were moved out of the homes and onto U.S. bases. Last March, the Reagan Administration ordered that all U.S. government payments to Panama, including fees for basic services, be made to an escrow account in the United States in an effort to keep funds from flowing to the government of Panama’s strongman, Manuel A. Noriega. The order was part of a series of sanctions geared to force Noriega out of power. All of the efforts have failed. The majority of the people living in the homes affected by the power cut are U.S. Air Force personnel and their families, the spokesman said.