Word: noriega
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...Crusade expects more Panamanians to join the struggle against Noriega as the economic noose tightens. "People don't think parties or Crusade," said Roberto Brenes, a Crusade leader and former investment banker. "They think their bellies." To strengthen its clout, the Crusade last week agreed to back a government of national reconciliation, headed by Delvalle, to replace the Noriega-dominated regime...
Some Panamanians fear that Noriega will never leave without military intervention from the north. "The Americans put Noriega here," said a middle-class protester. "Now they have to get him out." Concurred another: "Everybody is hoping for the Americans to interfere." That includes Mariela Delvalle, wife of the deposed President. Though Mariela and her husband are hiding in separate locations in Panama, they communicate in writing. In an interview with TIME last week, the former First Lady insisted, "I want the United States to be ready to invade Panama if we ask for it. I don't want an invasion...
...even as the U.S.-Panamanian showdown grew more bitter, rumors circulated that the two sides might strike a deal. According to Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, a Noriega envoy had asked whether the indictment could be withdrawn. "The general is willing to go, but he's not going to be dragged out like a dog," said a Panamanian who knows the general well. Another Panamanian hinted that the leader might consider retiring on April 23, the 25th anniversary of his entrance into the Defense Forces. A second possible date: Aug. 12, when Noriega completes...
...though, U.S. Justice officials have refused to consider dropping the charges against Noriega. A dismissal would require Ronald Reagan's signature, and the Administration is afraid of sending the wrong signal just as its antidrug campaign is developing fresh momentum. The Government continued to crack down on drug traffickers last week, when a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Colonel Jean-Claude Paul, the powerful commander of Haiti's largest military garrison. The indictment charged Paul with allowing cocaine smugglers to use an airstrip on his farm to fly drugs to the U.S. He is unlikely to be brought...
...Noriega does agree to leave, he will probably insist that a transitional government be in place before he departs and that the Defense Forces remain intact. Although the U.S. might be willing to give him those assurances, Administration officials face another hurdle: Noriega does not trust them. "The way he sees it, he was loyal to the U.S. for many years. After all that, he was betrayed," says a former Panamanian official. In fact, despite the feelers Noriega has sent to the State Department and the Pentagon, he continues to vow publicly that "the only way this general is leaving...