Word: stepped
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...nationwide television ahead of the evening news. Reading from a script, Delvalle told stunned viewers that he had asked for the resignation of General Manuel Antonio Noriega, 50, the military strongman who has run Panama for the past five years. Delvalle said he had requested Noriega to "voluntarily step aside" while the U.S. investigated drug-trafficking charges that federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa had brought against the general in early February. His remarks completed, Delvalle bade good evening to his fellow citizens, leaving them to wonder what would happen next...
...anti-Noriega demonstrations took place last summer. According to one account, Abrams told Delvalle, "You know as well as I do that Mr. Noriega has to leave." Several days later Panamanian official asked Abrams whether the U.S. could withdraw the drug indictments against the general to induce him to step down. The answer: no deal...
...Reagan Administration remains convinced that Panama's increasing political and economic isolation will eventually force the general to step down. "Noriega can hang on for a long time," says a U.S. official, "but sooner or later the country is going to start paying very dearly for keeping him in power. It's at that point we'll see a change...
...hard on Panama and create sympathy for Noriega at home. "There's no pragmatism in any of this," says a former Panamanian official. "Of course Noriega needs to go. But, really, to have Administration officials tell reporters this and then indict him makes it impossible for him to step aside." The ex-official adds that whatever other qualities Noriega may possess, the Panamanian strongman has no end of stubborn pride...
...attempting to broker a solution at this point, Kissinger believes, the U.S. may do harm to its position as a neutral arbiter. "If Shultz doesn't watch his step," Kissinger warns, "he'll have the worst of all worlds. The Israelis will blame him for betrayal, and the Arabs will dismiss him as Israel's lawyer...