Fitzwater Denies Bush Got Panama Warning

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater denied Monday that President Bush’s military and security advisers had urged him not to speak at an outdoor rally in Panama.

Fitzwater said the President’s trip was successful despite the chaos that erupted at a rally in a Panama City plaza Thursday after police fired tear gas and pistol shots into the air to break up a protest demonstration. Bush and his party were forced to flee.

The Los Angeles Times, citing sources in the Pentagon’s Southern Command as well as diplomatic sources, reported that military and security advisers had warned Bush against speaking in public in Panama City and also cautioned that the Panamanian National Police was poorly trained to cope with riots.

“We were never advised that way by anyone,” Fitzwater told reporters. “We were assured that it was safe and that there was no reason not to go.”

The Times said the White House pressed ahead with the trip for the political gain of Bush’s appearance in the country where U.S. troops overthrew Panamanian dictator Manuel A. Noriega in December, 1989.

“We think it was a very successful trip,” Fitzwater said. “The reception there was as warm as any he’s received. The crowds along the motorcade route in and out were extremely warm. The crowd at the rally was very warm. They had 10,000 people there . . . all waving flags.”

Although many along Bush’s motorcade route were waving handkerchiefs and flags, there were also demonstrators with anti-American signs and banners. There were several thousand people in the square where Bush was to speak. Many had small American flags distributed immediately before Bush’s arrival. But on surrounding streets, anti-U.S. protesters burned garbage and tires.

Bush never got to deliver his speech celebrating democracy at the rally in the Parque Porras. The President and Barbara Bush, wiping tears from their eyes, were whisked away by Secret Service agents with guns drawn as the tear gas wafted over the square.

It was the first visit to Panama by a U.S. president since 1978. The demonstrators included relatives of the several hundred civilians killed in the U.S. invasion that toppled Noriega.

Polls have indicated that most Panamanians supported the U.S. moves to restore Panama’s democratically elected leaders.