Invasion Violated World Law, Jamaican Leader Tells Quayle

Vice President Dan Quayle’s three-day mission to help repair damage to ties with Latin America ended on a sour note today with Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley telling him the U.S. invasion of Panama and arrest of Manuel A. Noriega violated international law.

“We exchanged views on Panama and we are friends, but friends do not always agree,” Manley told reporters after a meeting with Quayle.

Quayle was greeted warmly in Panama on Sunday by many Panamanians who told him they were thankful the United States had stepped in to oust Noriega.

But today, Manley, while condemning Noriega as a “menace” to the region, said his ouster in the U.S. invasion violated world law.

He said that while opposing Noriega, “we also feel very strongly about the principles of sovereignty and the principles that are involved by the invasion of one country by another.”

“We made it clear . . . that we do not agree with the invasion,” Manley said of talks he described as “frank and useful”--diplomatic jargon for blunt.

White House officials have acknowledged privately that ambitious plans for Quayle’s diplomatic mission had to be abandoned after most of Latin America, including U.S. neighbor Mexico, refused to welcome a visit so soon after the invasion.