Word: noriega
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...officials are worried about more than Noriega's alleged drug dealing. Customs agents say they have identified more than 75 Cuban and Soviet-bloc front companies apparently using Panama to circumvent restrictions on the export of American high technology. Every month, they say, tens of millions of dollars worth of restricted U.S. technology goes to Panama, far beyond that nation's modest needs. Customs Commissioner William von Raab says he believes Noriega "is a beneficiary of the activities of these ((front)) companies." Major Florentino Aspillaga, a senior Cuban intelligence officer who defected to the West this summer, has charged that...
...debate over what to do about Noriega has at times pitted U.S. officials against one another. Last October the State Department asked Von Raab to meet with some visiting Panamanian officials and present them with gift-wrapped parcels. The Customs commissioner, who has long believed Panama to be a haven for drug dealers, was unaware that the packages contained plaques expressing Washington's appreciation for Panamanian assistance in cracking down on narcotics traffic. Fumed Von Raab: "I was snookered." Von Raab is skeptical about talk of Panamanian cooperation with U.S. law enforcement. "Just because they throw a few crumbs...
Attorney General Edwin Meese and Assistant Attorney General Stephen Trott have been among Noriega's staunchest supporters. They cite his willingness this year to have Panama's bank-secrecy laws amended to allow U.S. investigators limited access to drug-money accounts. In an effort to scuttle a resolution critical of Panama's drug enforcement policies last March, Trott told a Senate committee, "The Panamanians have given ((the DEA)) 100% of its requests in terms of drug traffickers." An unlikely coalition led by North Carolina Republican Jesse Helms and Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry was nevertheless able to push the resolution through...
What may finally tip the balance against Noriega within the Administration is political factors. Recent protests in Panama show growing middle-class opposition to his rule. After pro-Noriega demonstrators damaged the U.S. embassy in Panama in June, Washington suspended military and economic aid; the freeze will continue, suggested Secretary of State George Shultz, until Panama's military gets out of politics. "There's been a decision made that we can afford to let the relationship deteriorate a little bit," says a State Department policymaker. The Pentagon and some in the intelligence community, concerned about Cuban activity in Panama...
Chances for an arms deal get a boost from offers by the U. S. and West Germany. -- He may be worth $7 million, but g. o. p. Candidate Pierre Samuel du Pont IV says he is a self- made man. -- Three federal agencies are investigating Panamanian Despot Manuel Noriega. -- In Louisiana, an accountant is executed for a brutal murder...