The World - News from July 3, 1989
A total of 6,400 American military personnel and civilians finished moving over the weekend onto U.S. bases in Panama, widening the rift with the regime of Gen. Manuel A. Noriega. The U.S. military’s Southern Command said the move is intended to “maintain a low military profile in the face of harassment by the Panamanian Defense Forces in recent months.” It also seems designed to increase pressure on Noriega to step down by depriving the battered economy of about $60 million a year that the Americans were spending. Instead, they will make purchases at facilities within the Southern Command. The move was ordered in May by the Defense Department when violence broke out after the May 7 presidential election.
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