harelb@cabot.dartmouth.edu (Harel Barzilai) (06/15/91)
Topic 20 June 91 News Response 5 of 7 carcmn carcmn.ens 8:29 pm Jun 5,
1991
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P a n a m a
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US Judge Rejects Panamanian Damage Claims
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On May 1 District Judge Stanley Harris dismissed 16 lawsuits
filed by dozens of Panamanian businesses for damages resulting from
looting following the December 1989 US invasion. Plaintiffs had
argued that the invasion dismantled Panama's police force and left its
citizens unprotected, and that US forces did not intervene to prevent
looting and vandalism. Harris ruled that the courts do not have the
authority to second-guess miltary decisions. AFP, 5/1, 5/2/91; Star
Tribune, 5/2/91
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G o v e r n m e n t ' s P o p u l a r i t y P l u m m e t s
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The government of President Guillermo Endara had the support
of 80% of the population when it was installed by the US invasion in
1989. But recent polls suggest that only 15% are now satisfied with
its performance.
Analysts attribute the government's decline in popularity to
its inability to solve the country's economic problems and to frequent
charges of nepotism and corruption. The government's economic
programs have floundered, in large part, because they were premised on
the assumption that US aid would be far more generous than it has in
fact been, an assumption which led them to spend nearly one third of
their 1990 budget on debt service arrears. This left little to
address the needs of the nearly one half of the population which is
now living below the poverty line. In May, the government announced
that it plans to spend another $1 billion on debt service: $813
million to the World Bank, IMF and IDB and $200 million to domestic
creditors. LADB 5/3/91; ACAN-EFE, 5/9/91
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I n v e s t m e n t P r o t e c t i o n A c c o r d S i g n e d
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On April 30, an agreement protecting foreign investments in
Panama was signed by Foreign minister Julio Linares and by US
Ambassador to Panama Deane Hinton. The pact, which was ratified by
the Panamanian legislature in 1983 but never implemented, guarantees
that investors may take their earnings out of Panama and sets up a
procedure for resolving disputes. Linares said that Latin Americans
have overcome their fears that foreign investment is an
interventionist tool. Notimex, 4/30/91; ACAN-EFE, 4/30/91
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Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering at Pre-Invasion Levels
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Reports from several branches of the US government suggest
that money laundering and drug trafficking in Panama have returned to
the levels that prevailed before the US invasion. The State
Department, in its annual report on drug trafficking, said that
Columbian drug traffickers were using new, sophisticated methods to
launder millions of dollars through Panamanian banks. The Drug
Enforcement Administration amd the Justice Department have also issued
reports which confirm these claims. AFP, ACAN-EFE, 4/18/91
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T h i r d P l a c e
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The Panamanian government has received $1 billion in US aid
since the December 1989 invasion, taking into account donations, loans
approved by Congress, and trade benefits and other forms of aid made
available directly by the White House. According to a report released
on May 11, this makes Panama the third largest recipient of US aid,
behind only Israel and Egypt. ACAN-EFE, 5/11/91
United States
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N E D F u n d R e q u e s t
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Despite criticism of its secrecy, its meddling in the 1990
Nicaraguan election, and its inaction on monitoring its grantees, the
National Endowment for Democracy is asking for a $5 million increase
in its funding -- to $30 million for fiscal year 1992. The NED is a
federally-funded, private organization that distributes money through
subsidiaries of the AFL-CIO, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the
Democratic and Republican parties. Its mission is "exporting
democracy," and its four core groups are supposed to insure a
liberal-conservative balance. Washington Report on the Hemisphere,
4/17/91
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T o n t o n s M a c o u t e s i n M i a m i ?
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Two prominent Haitian broadcasters, both supporters of
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, were assassinated in Miami in February and
March. A Miami building housing three Haitian businesses was ripped
by an explosion. Little Haiti, home to 60,000 Haitian exiles, is
talking about the Tontons Macoutes, the private army of thugs who
acted as judge,jury, and executioner during the Duvalier dictatorships
in Haiti.
A Haitian-born, Creole-speaking police detective attributed
the reluctance of witnesses to come forward to fear of the Macoutes.
According to detective Thony, "They know from Haiti that the Macoutes
are vicious and can hurt you." A Little Haiti grocer concurred.
"We've always had crime. But not this kind," said the grocer. "This
is organized, directed at certain people for political reasons. I
think people are scared." Los Angeles Times (via Star Tribune),
5/14/91
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No Peace for Central American Refugees in DC
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"The problem is the police shot a Salvadoran man who was
handcuffed. They could have arrested him and taken him to jail --
that is supposed to be the American way to do things," said a
48-year-old Salvadoran house painter. He spoke for many of the
Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, Panamanian, and Colombian
residents of the strife-torn Mount Pleasant and Adams Morgan
neighborhoods of Washington, DC. The May 5 shooting triggered two
nights of disturbances, looting, and curfew, and highlighted tensions
between Hispanic and black residents of the area.
Salvadorans complained of racism, comparing Washington police
to those of their own country. Scrawled graffiti demanded "Justicia,"
and Salvadoran restaurants and Guatemalan artisans' shops were spared
by looters. New York Times, 5/8/91
Noriega Co-defendant Sentenced to 20 Years
William Saldarriaga, a Colombian convicted of conspiring with
General Manuel Noriega to trade Panamanian M-16 rifles for Colombian
cocaine, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His also-convicted
co-defendant, Brian Davidow, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors on
Noriega's case, and will remain free on bond until after the Noriega
trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 22. AP (via New York
Times), 5/24/91
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U S C o n g r e s s S e n d s a M e s s a g e
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Members of the House Sub-Committee on Western Hemispheric
Affairs and the US Senate sent letters to President Jorge Serrano of
Guatemala to express concern about the continuing human rights
violations in that country. The letters were signed by Representatives
Robert Torricelle, Stephen Solarz, Jaime Fuster, Gerry Studds, Sam
Gejderson, Ted Weis, Peter Kosmayer and Eliot Engel and Senators Alan
Cranston, Edward Kennedy, Wendell Ford, James Jeffords, Brock Adams,
Paul Wellstone and Tom Harkin. Cerigua, 5/5-11/91