Noriega Accuses U.S. Army of ‘Intimidation’ Exercises

The Panama Defense Forces accused the United States on Friday of intimidation and treaty violations, and the foreign minister said that Panama is “an invasion site in which only the order to fire is lacking.”

After three days of U.S. Army maneuvers and confrontations with Panamanian soldiers, the military issued a statement saying that the defense forces are facing “situations of intimidation and aggression by forces belonging to the Southern Command of the United States.”

Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, the defense forces commander who effectively rules Panama as a military dictator, reiterated that he would not yield to U.S. demands that he step down. He marks six years as commander today.

“Panama will not bow to the law of force that those barbarians from the north, their (Panamanian) lackeys and tame politicians are trying to impose,” and will not “grovel” before the United States, he said in a speech to retired military officers.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said that President Bush “would not rule out” seizing Noriega to face charges in Florida in a federal narcotics case but that the United States is not contemplating such a move.

Noriega’s comments were his first public reaction to several confrontations between his forces and U.S. troops, which have included arrests on both sides and a blockade by American soldiers of Ft. Amador, a military base here shared by U.S. and Panamanian forces.

U.S. officials say they have the right to conduct exercises under the 1977 Panama Canal treaties to assure canal security. Noriega accuses the United States of seeking to abrogate the treaties and recover the canal. Under the treaties, all U.S. roles in the operation and defense of the waterway cease Dec. 31, 1999.

In New York, Panama’s foreign minister, Jorge Ritter, asked the U.N. Security Council to send military observers to Panama to prevent the U.S. Army from provoking confrontations “as a pretext for armed intervention.”

“What the situation in Panama calls for is the presence of military observers, which we hope would be able to go as early as next Monday,” he said.

He asserted that Panama has become “an invasion site in which only the order to fire is lacking.”

Herbert S. Okun, acting U.S. representative at the United Nations, said that all U.S. military activities in Panama are conducted “in complete accord with the Panama Canal treaties” and that recent exercises were a “response to the hostile actions of the Noriega regime.”

Washington has been trying to force Noriega out since two federal grand juries in Florida indicted him early last year on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Noriega denies the charges.

Diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions have failed to budge the general. His regime annulled presidential elections in May after what international observers called a clear victory by the opposition ticket over the Noriega-backed slate.