The World : Tighter Panama Sanctions

Stepping up its effort to force strongman Manuel A. Noriega out of office, the Bush Administration announced expanded economic sanctions against Panama. State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said the measures include withdrawing Panama’s 1989 sugar quota and widening the list of Panamanian companies and individuals associated with Noriega to whom Americans will be barred from making payments. The loss of the sugar quota denies the Panamanian government close to $15 million in revenue, she said. The United States first imposed sanctions against Panama last year, but so far they have failed to budge Noriega, who is under U.S. indictment on drug-trafficking charges.