Asylum, in the Drug Lords’ Gun Sights, May Be the Best Medicine : Noriega: The cartel couldn’t touch him when he was a top dog. Now that he’s a nobody, lawless elements may want to eliminate him.

On Christmas Eve, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega quietly slipped into the Papal Nunciature in Panama City and asked for asylum. Almost immediately, the stock of the new government of Guillermo Endara went up and resistance to U.S. military forces declined.

Noriega undoubtedly will get the asylum, and the safe transit, he seeks. Although some parties will protest, in the long run everyone--with the exception, perhaps, of Noriega--will breathe easier for it.

Here’s why:

The Roman Catholic Church can hardly turn away a downtrodden suppliant (even if he is a thug), especially since the papal nuncio has had dealings with Noriega in the past. Further, to hand Noriega over to the United States might be interpreted as an endorsement of the U.S. military action, which the nuncio certainly would want to avoid.

More basically, the principle of sanctuary has a historical dimension for the church. If the church turns Noriega over to the United States at Washington’s request, that will jeopardize the principle for the future. The loser next time around could be a Cardinal Mindszenty. After the ill-fated 1956 Hungarian uprising, Cardinal Josef Mindszenty, Roman Catholic prelate of Hungary, took refuge for 15 years in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest.

In the past Spain had offered Noriega a place to retire, but under very different circumstances. Today, it is more likely that Noriega will try to get into Cuba, a better place to live than Nicaragua, his other regional ally. But despite long ties to the Havana government, there is no love lost between Noriega and Fidel Castro. The Panamanian might just be one additional burden that the already beleaguered Castro doesn’t need right now, or he might be welcomed as the latest symbol of Latin American resistance to Yankee imperialism.

The Endara government and most Panamanians want him dead or out of the country, not on trial in Panama City. To try him in court there would bring up far too much dirt about far too many people still in Panama.

Further, Panama cannot legally honor a request to turn over Noriega since it has no extradition treaty with the United States. It would be foolish to try to force Endara to go against Panamanian law, for that would strengthen the (untrue) case that the new president is just a creature of Washington.

Finally, for all the tough statements on bringing Noriega to Florida to stand trial, it isn’t all that clear that the United States wants--or should want--him here. There is reason to doubt the strength of the two indictments against him. Through he undoubtedly was involved in drug dealing, the indictments were based on evidence from convicted drug dealers who were plea bargaining. The trials could be messy, even unsuccessful.

Were he to go on trial, his lawyers would demand all sorts of documentation that could prove detrimental to U.S. security. After all, Noriega worked for years with U.S. intelligence agencies and the military.

But Noriega has a problem with exile--the drug lords. In the past he has had disputes with the Medellin cartel. As long as he was top dog in Panama, he was useful to them. Now that he is a nobody who knows far too much about the drug business, they would much prefer to have him in the ground.

Thus, sanctuary followed by asylum suggests that the immediate solution of the Noriega problem is at hand, and with it much improved prospects for an end to all fighting and the growth of the new Panamanian society. Ultimate justice for Noriega, however, may yet be administered by the more lawless elements of the world.