Word: panama
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After hiding for more than two months behind shuttered windows and CLOSED signs, Panama's bankers were ready for a stampede of cash-starved customers when the institutions reopened last week. With good reason: it was the first time since March 3, when the government controlled by General Manuel Antonio Noriega decreed a bank holiday, that depositors at most of the country's 120 banking institutions were allowed to make limited withdrawals. Yet the queues that curled around street corners last Monday were calm and orderly. Grunted one depositor, Roy Stone, as he waited to enter a Chase Manhattan branch...
...applying economic pressure is failing to work as planned. The U.S. sanctions imposed last March included a freeze on $50 million in Panamanian bank accounts in the U.S. and suspension of trade preferences on $96 million in annual commerce between the two countries. The moves were expected to paralyze Panama's economy and spark internal pressure for Noriega's departure. But Panamanians are learning to cope with the cash shortage, and the U.S. sanctions may be causing only longer-term damage to Panama's economy...
...disclosed last week that a State Department representative has been bargaining with Noriega, offering him incentives to leave the country. Under one Administration proposal, the U.S. would drop federal drug-trafficking charges against Noriega if he agreed to depart. But the strongman publicly rebuffed that idea last week, declaring, "Panama's sovereignty is not negotiable...
...Since Panama uses U.S. dollars as its currency, the sanctions have managed to reduce drastically the supply of circulating money. But most of the country's 2.3 million people have evidently found ways to cover the necessities and then some. Discotheques are still crowded on Friday nights, and home-video rentals are booming. Some consumers are even finding bargains as businesses compete for scarce dollars by offering bonuses. One fast-food chain offers a double-size barrel of fried chicken for the price of a single, served up in what it calls the "crisis pack...
There have been numerous reports that Reagan has offered to drop drug-trafficking charges against Noriega if he would leave Panama at least until after elections are held...