Panama Quiet as More U.S. Troops Arrive

More American soldiers arrived here Friday, the initial contingent of nearly 1,900 troops ordered to Panama by President Bush to protect U.S. personnel and facilities and to pressure Gen. Manuel A. Noriega to give up power.

Bush, in announcing his action Thursday, had used strong words about the confrontation with Noriega, and the Panamanian strongman’s government retorted that Washington’s move was “tantamount to an act of war.” In contrast with the rhetoric, the situation in the Panamanian capital Friday was calm, even serene.

Pace More Normal

The number of Panamanian troops in the streets and near U.S. facilities was far fewer than usual, and the pace of life and business more normal than at any time since the current crisis began last Sunday with a national election conducted amid charges of massive fraud and bloody violence.

Security was light at American bases, including Howard Air Base, where the new troops landed. A few checkpoints were set up on access roads, but American military police were not dressed for combat and carried only light weapons.

And while the Noriega regime publicly condemned Bush’s actions as unwarranted intervention and pledged to fight any invasion, officials sought out foreign reporters to assure them the government has no intention of seeking a confrontation.

The regime’s determination to avoid a fight was seen in the newspaper Critica, a lurid anti-American daily with ties to the Panamanian military. The paper did not even mention Bush’s order or the arrival of the U.S. troops.

The arrival of the new forces was carried out in an equally tranquil atmosphere, free of tension or any sense of crisis.

Although the U.S. troops that followed were wearing full combat gear and carrying weapons when they were filmed boarding planes in the United States, they arrived in fatigues, unarmed and toting only packs full of personal gear.

Arriving on 70 planes

Col. Ronald Sconyers, spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command based here, said the full complement of new forces would arrive over a week’s time, with most of them flying in on 70 planes over the next three days. A final detachment of 200 Marines from Louisiana are due next week after passing through the Panama Canal.

Sconyers told reporters at Howard Air Base that there have been “no direct threats against U.S. personnel or American facilities” in recent weeks. Neither have Panamanian forces stopped American convoys carrying supplies from the port of Colon to U.S. facilities, a major complaint in the past as a violation of treaties governing the American presence here.

And while the Bush Administration said in Washington that American troops would guard such convoys and other movements of personnel through Panama with orders to defend themselves, Sconyers answered “absolutely not” when asked if U.S. forces would patrol off their bases.

Instead, he said the combat forces are defensive in nature, guarding the Panama Canal, American facilities and personnel and would largely be kept to “U.S. property.”

He said that the troops would live in the field, probably in tents, joining a 2,000-man combat force that has been here since March, 1988, when then-President Ronald Reagan stepped up the American military presence as part of an unsuccessful effort to driver Noriega from office.

Altogether, including the new arrivals, the American military force in Panama totals about 14,200, including about 8,600 combat-ready troops. There are an estimated 10,300 U.S. dependents in the country, most of whom already live on American bases.

Under Bush’s orders, about 750 American families living in Panama City have begun moving to military facilities, with a few being sent to the United States. Sconyers said there have been no reports since Bush’s action of harassment of Americans, including military, dependents or private citizens living here.

Battalions of Dignity

With the 15,000-strong Panama Defense Forces acting in a restrained manner, the other Washington reason for increasing its military presence is the violent tactics of the Battalions of Dignity, paramilitary units formed by Noriega. This force are believed to have been responsible for Wednesday’s beatings of opposition leaders, including presidential candidate Guillermo Endara.

Endara, who is recognized as the election winner by nearly all resident diplomats, the Roman Catholic Church, independent foreign observers and the international press corps, was still in a hospital Friday.

Sconyers said that while “the Dignity Battalions got a little out of hand, they are not going to attack military bases. They don’t have the resources for it.”

Meanwhile, there was continuing diplomatic and internal opposition pressure on the Noriega regime.

Japan Backs Opposition

Japanese Ambassador Jumpei Kato delivered a letter to opposition leaders supporting their claims of victory in the election and urging Noriega to turn over power to the winners.

The Japanese letter described as “a lamentable position” Noriega’s decision to nullify the elections after the regime’s efforts to claim victory were shown to be based on fraud.

Japan’s call on Noriega “to respect the will of the people” and its condemnation of his attempt at fraud and the attack on Endara and the others is particularly significant because Tokyo is the major financial support for Panama in the wake of American economic sanctions.

The Catholic Conference of Bishops on Friday released a letter it has ordered read during services on Sunday. The letter condemns the government’s violence and urges government troops not to open fire on protesters it described as “undefended” except by their “firm will to live in dignity and peace.”

To do so would be “a sin of conscience” said the 10 bishops who signed the document.