Word: panamanians
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Noriega's arrest did disrupt the Panamanian operations of Colombia's Medellin cartel, which allegedly paid the general millions of dollars for passage through the isthmus. But the unexpected result, U.S. experts say, is that the rival Cali cartel established a base in Panama and has since inundated the country -- along with Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean -- with vast quantities of cocaine destined for the U.S. and Europe...
...Panamanian President Guillermo Endara's nascent antidrug force is starting to score some seizures, thanks to an infusion of U.S. aid, but it remains badly outmanned and outgunned by the narco-traficantes. Says a senior official of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration: "The Endara government has had to create a viable antinarcotic unit from nothing. In our view it has done an excellent...
...face of it, bringing Noriega to justice seems to be an unqualifiedly good idea. Who wouldn't applaud the downfall of an odious dictator and the return of Panamanian democracy after 21 years of military rule? Unfortunately, things are not that simple. From Noriega's seizure in Panama to his long incarceration without bail, the U.S. government's relentless pursuit of the general has been a cause for concern to civil libertarians and constitutional experts...
That is precisely what the defense team, headed by Noriega's flamboyant lead counsel, Frank Rubino, has been saying all along. Rubino, one of Miami's savviest drug-case lawyers, claims the charges were manufactured because of Noriega's refusal to commit Panamanian soldiers to an invasion of Nicaragua at the request of the U.S. "Just a drug case, huh? Do you believe in the tooth fairy too?" says Rubino. "Like it or not, General Noriega has been an asset of the CIA, the National Security Agency and other government agencies for 20 some years...
...running activities while he headed the CIA and while serving as Vice President dogged his campaign. Some cynics believe the Administration will cut a secret deal with Noriega to avoid explosive disclosures at a trial that is likely to drag on into the 1992 presidential campaign. Others, like former Panamanian President Ricardo de la Espriella, disagree. "I don't think Noriega has anything on Bush," he says. "It's a bluff. It will be Noriega's word against Bush's. ((Noriega)) is destroyed...