Word: noriega
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Nearly three months have passed since drug indictments were brought against General Manuel Antonio Noriega in Florida and the Administration signaled its determination to unseat the strongman. Noriega remains firmly in control, despite opposition strikes, U.S. economic sanctions, and the dispatch of 1,300 additional U.S. troops to Panama. The economic noose intended to yank Noriega from power is instead choking Panama's banking, construction, retail and tourism industries. Says a young businessman in Panama City: "Noriega has made fools of the Americans, and we are the ones who have suffered...
...situation worsens, the perception is growing in Panama that the U.S. joined battle with Noriega armed only with a firm conviction that the general would slink away on cue. At a secret meeting, Panamanian opposition leaders asked U.S. embassy officers to spell out their plans for dealing with Noriega. A U.S. official reiterated Washington's familiar posture: Noriega must leave Panama, with no guarantees that he will not be extradited to the U.S. from a third country. "Do you mean to tell us that the U.S. set off on this venture without considering the possibility that it wouldn't work...
While American officials concede that they are divided over what course to pursue against Noriega, they reject charges of a policy vacuum. "We always envisioned continually escalating economic pressure," says a senior Administration official. "We have avoided doing anything dramatic because we don't want to cause permanent damage to the Panamanian economy." Yet as U.S. banks contemplate pulling out of Panama, pessimists fret that Panama's service economy is being ravaged beyond repair; optimists predict that it will take a decade to restore investors' confidence in the country. Grouses a Panamanian official: "The American strategy has all the subtlety...
...sometimes conflicting goals may run out if the U.S. continues to ignore regional sensibilities. "Six years ago, there was no anti-Americanism in Honduras," says a Honduran political analyst. "Now it is increasing every day." In Panama, adds a veteran politician, "there will be bitterness and anti-Americanism" once Noriega is gone. As the war on drugs escalates, Washington needs to plan its battles with more forethought...
...Dukakis' ad, which features an eerie close-up of Panama's General Noriega, the Governor asserts he wants "to see a real war, not a phony war, against drug and alcohol dependency. How can we tell our children to say no to drugs when we have an Administration that paid $200,000 a year to a drug- peddling dictator from Panama?" Gore's commercials, made by the veteran video warrior David Garth, emphasize that he may speak softly but he carries a big stick. Standing in front of an outdoor basketball court, Gore asserts, "We need a President...