Word: noriega
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...blocked traffic and angrily waved their pay slips in the air. The government cashed the checks the next day at special offices, after delivering the money in heavily guarded armored cars. But ordinary shoppers were out of luck because grocery stores refused to accept checks or credit cards. While Noriega appeared to pacify soldiers by meeting the military payroll, Panama's government workers faced a cashless payday this week...
...hardship worsened, Noriega's backers lashed out at Washington. Noting that American forces were staging exercises along the Panama Canal, Foreign Minister Jorge Abadia Arias charged that the U.S. planned to invade the country. The U.S. Southern Command, which has 10,000 troops stationed along the waterway, called the maneuvers routine...
...Noriega's bluster could not conceal the bitter truth that most Panamanians want the general out, and they want him out now. Yet the country has not been gripped by the same volatile passions that ignited mass protests in Haiti, South Korea and the Philippines in recent years. Last summer's protests by hundreds of thousands of fist-shaking Panamanians have given way to muted anger. "We're not a violent people," said a middle-class woman in the capital. "We want to do it peacefully, like Gandhi...
...demonstration last week underscored that sentiment. It was called for 2 p.m. People began showing up at about 1:30 and never numbered more than 500. Adolfo, a shop clerk, viewed the crowd from the safety of the store and then explained why. "I want Noriega out, but my getting beat up isn't going to accomplish that." Observed a veteran politician: "Panamanians won't take the suffering. We are a bourgeois society...
...global financial center and an alleged haven for profits from worldwide narcotics sales. Hundreds of international firms have opened Panamanian offices to save money on taxes, while dozens of shipping companies register their boats there. The resulting wealth has made Panamanians wary of upsetting the status quo -- even where Noriega is concerned. The National Civic Crusade, a coalition of business and professional groups, called off a general strike two weeks ago, when the action threatened to damage the economy...