Officer Picked to Head Military Quits Over Corruption Charge

Col. Roberto Armijo, the officer chosen to head a new Panamanian military cleansed of the corruption and brutality that identified the army headed by Noriega, was forced to resign Wednesday because of “irregularities in his personal finances.”

President Guillermo Endara made the announcement of Armijo’s resignation, which marks his new government’s first crisis, without elaboration.

But Vice President Ricardo Arias Calderon said in an interview that Armijo, the highest-ranking officer kept on after the Dec. 20 American invasion, quit because an investigation found signs of serious personal corruption during his nearly 25 years in the Panama Defense Forces.

Armijo had been appointed commander of the newly named and drastically reduced Public Force because he was the highest-ranking officer left after the U.S. military and Endara government officials had culled out leaders of the old Defense Forces thought to be guilty of corruption, brutality, torture and other serious crimes.

The choice came under private but immediate fire from anti-Noriega leaders, both in and out of the new government. They cited suspicion that no one who held such high positions as Armijo’s--he headed the national police, the navy and was chief of military personnel--could have avoided corruption.

This criticism, along with growing dissatisfaction with the government’s apparent willingness to incorporate other officers and enlisted men of the PDF into the new military structure, led to an investigation of Armijo, according to presidential spokesman Anel Beliz.

Vice President Arias, who is in charge of restructuring the military, said the investigation “found questions about Armijo’s personal finances. We called him on the telephone and said we wanted to discuss his personal finances. He then offered to resign.”

Other sources said the colonel, who was due to retire next summer, was given no choice. Beliz said the question of criminal charges against Armijo is still under consideration.

The undisclosed amount of money that investigators traced to Armijo indicates serious corruption, according to several government officials. They charged that Armijo was involved in smuggling and extortion, for which he allegedly received large payments.

Arias said in the interview that his program for the new military was not involved in the decision to fire the army commander, insisting that “there is no difference in the government over the development of the security force. Personal finances--this is the reason, and the only reason, for the resignation.”

However, other senior members of the government and influential leaders of the three main parties that make up the coalition headed by Endara said the appointment and subsequent disgrace of Armijo are representative of the flaws in Arias’ approach.

“We cannot use either the structure or the members of the PDF to form the new security force,” said one government Cabinet member, who asked for anonymity. “All we need is a small police force.”