Word: panamas
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...confrontations scarcely matched the anger that exploded after the coup attempt. Emboldened by rumors that Noriega had been toppled, some Panamanians went on a protest spree that degenerated into sporadic rioting. While some neighborhoods stayed calm in Panama City, streets and alleys in others were thick with smoke from burning mounds of garbage, tires and trees. Looters set fire to shops and a department store near Noriega's headquarters. Striking utility workers deepened the gloom. Power-company employees cut electric service; telephone lines went dead...
...Major Fernando Quesada, the conspirators arrived at Noriega's headquarters on Panama City's Avenue A while their quarry was at another military compound. Troops loyal to Noriega had little difficulty in capturing the muddled plotters. At one point Quesada was taken before a company of crack troops to be introduced as their new leader. Instead, a loyal officer barked out, "This man wants to overthrow Comandante Noriega. Arrest him!" When Noriega arrived in his bulletproof Mercedes at 8:15 a.m., the brief rebellion was over. In the aftermath, at least 30 people were taken into custody. Noriega used...
With the strongman's departure possibly looming, some experts are worried about the shape a post-Noriega Panama will take. "Nobody is looking at who will be left in the general's absence," says a Panamanian in the U.S. who wants Noriega to quit. "People say Noriega is a thug, but there is a group in the army that is far worse...
...State Department prefers to play down such concerns. "At some point, this has to become an entirely Panamanian matter," one diplomat says. "We keep stressing that Panama should return to democracy, but it really is their responsibility to decide on details." Yet Washington cannot simply walk away from Panama once Noriega goes. Having brought the general to his knees, the U.S. will have to help the country return to normal...
Even when the House of Representatives voted against extending aid to the contras on Feb. 3, attention was focused on the indictment of Panama's Manuel Antonio Noriega on drug-related charges. The Canal makes Panama intrinsically more important than Nicaragua to American interests. Yet there too Washington has been embarrassed by its past policies: until evidence of Noriega's drug trafficking became too serious to ignore, the general had been a valued CIA asset. Last week the Administration continued to squeeze Panama's economy in an effort to oust Noriega, who hung on precariously despite widespread strikes, rioting...