The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 26

z- i- 1 Bush informed congressional lead-' ers of his plans shortly before troops went into action Thepres1- dent also telephoned leaders in Latin America and Western Europe When the attack began Bush was in the Oval Office with Baker Na- tional Security Adviser Brent Scow- croft and Chief of Staff John A White House crisis-management team headed by Deputy National Se- curity Adviser Robert Gates kept tabs on the operation throughout the night providing Bush with up-to the-minute information Vice President Dan Quayle was in sts on White House strategy sessions and phoned some of the world leaders shortly after the invasion began Noriega indicted on drug trafficking charges by two US grand juries has been a major political thorn in Bush's side for a long time Democrats charged during last year's cam- paign that Noriega was on the CIA payroll when Bush headed the agency in the 1970s At the time US officials used Noriega to supply intelligence information about Cuba Later Noriega helped train anti-leftist Nicaraguan Contra rebels But allegations of his increasing role in funneling drugs and drug money finally lost him Washington's support His indictment prompted the Reagan administration to seek his ouster and arrest "Many attempts have been made to resolve this crisis through diplomacy and negotiations" Bush told the nation Wednesday "All were rejected by the dictator of Panama General Manuel Noriega an indicted drug trafficker" ersBuosfhhiinfs opnnlaused schoonrtgrely sbseiofnorllue troops went into action The prem dent also telephoned leaders in Latin Amwehriecna athnedeWtteasctkembeEguenro Bush was in the Oval Office with Baker Na- tional Security Adviser Brent Scow croft and Chief of Staff John A Sununu- team White hea headed Deputy Na ona Se curity Adviser Robert Gates kept tabs on the operation throughout the night providing Bush with up-to- the-minute information Vice President Dan Quayle was in on White House strategy sessions and phoned some of the world lead- ers shortly after the invasion began charges by two US grand juries Noriega indicted on drug traffick ing hBausshbseesnidae mfoarjoar lopuoglitiitcmalethDomemoin- paign that Nonega was on the ccamu- pay cyirnglelh9e7n BosuAsth headed he thheeaddmetusaoeffin-- cials used Noriega to supply intelli- gence information about Cuba Later Noriega helped train anti-leftist Nica- raguan Contra rebels But 0 1 ei nallegations funneling drugs ari dr drug money His indictment prompted suppor finally lost him Washington's the Reagan administration to seek his ouster and arrest "Many attempts have been made to resolve this crisis through macy and negotiations" Bush told the nation Wednesday "All were jected by the dictator of Panama General Manuel Noriega an indicted drug trafficker" was Na- 4 £20 The Sacramento Bee Final Thursday December 211989 2nd try for Panama's president Associated Press PANAMA CITY Panama For the second time in seven months Guillermo Endara has been declared president of Panama and once again it comes amid violent clashes between his supporters and those who back Gen Manuel Antonio Noriega Endara a portly affable lawyer and former law professor was sworn in Wednesday after US troops in a bid to oust Noriega launched an assault on the country His opposition activities date back more than two decades to when he served in the National Assembly under Arnulfo Arias Madrid Panama's grand old man of the opposition Endara was Arias' spokesman in Panama until Arias died in Miami in 1988 in self-imposed exile Last May Endara himself ran for president and exit polls showed him and his two vice presidential candidates with an edge of about 3-1 But Noriega nullified the results ignoring the outcry at home and abroad Military Continued from page Al fighting had ended by sunrise Wednesday combat continued in places throughout the day in the city of about 1 million people At least 15 US troops were killed 108 wounded and one was missing Throughout the day Wednesday the American wounded were being returned to a military hospital in Texas Although President Bush ordered the multi-pronged US assault Sunday it followed the outlines of a Pentagon contingency plan drafted before Defense Secretary Dick Cheney took office this spring About 13000 American troops that were already in place in Panama provided the base of the operation Those troops included a battalion of the highly mobile 7th Infantry Division which is based at California's Fort Ord The 7th Infantry Division troops had been sent along with Marines a mechanized battalion from Fort Polk in Louisiana and some military police as reinforcements to Panama several months ago in the wake of continued domestic violence To join these units already in Panama another 7000 soldiers flew down throughout Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning They included the two Ranger battalions and a brigade of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division About 2500 additional reinforcements including more soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division were to be flown in Wednesday although bad weather was slowing down operations Simultaneous thrusts by four task forces throughout the Panama Canal Zone in areas controlled by Noriega's most loyal troops marked the first day of the operation Rangers who commonly jump into combat carrying 100 pounds or more of equipment made two parachute assaults into areas where stiff fighting was expected Near Rio Hato about 90 miles southwest of the canal the Rangers of Task Force Red fought two Panamanian infantry companies that had come to Noriega's defense during an October coup attempt A number of the Panamartian soldiers escaped said Lt Gen Tom Kelly director of operations for the Pentagon's Joint Staff Another Ranger battalion parachuted onto the international airfield about 15 miles northeast of Panama City and the canal After the airfield was cleared more paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne jumped from C-141 transports and moved to immobilize Noriega's loyalist Battalion 2000 After US warplanes destroyed nine of the By Nathan Miller Baltimore Sun WASHINGTON "I took the canal zone and let Congress debate" These were not the words of President Bush as he ordered a massive armed intervention into Panama to oust Gen Manuel A Noriega but these of former President Theodore Roosevelt in defending his decision to seize the canal zone in 1903 In the 86 years since then Panama has been dominated economically and politically by the American-controlled Panama Canal In fact Panama owes its existence as a nation to the waterway that bisects it Protection of the canal is a vital part of American policy and Washington repeatedly has intervened in Panamanian affairs to quash any perceived threat to the nation's stability In the early years of Panama's history these interventions took the form of armed force after World War I diplomatic and economic pressure was substituted The challenge posed by Noriega accused of trafficking in narcotics and the immediate prospect of Panamanian control of the canal appear to have been deemed sufficient grounds to return to the old days of armed intervention American interest was first attracted to the isthmus in the 1850s after the discovery of gold in California Rather than taking the arduous overland route across the United States or a long voyage around Cape Horn to the gold fields travelers from the east could take a short cut across the isthmus then part of Colombia They traveled by ship from an Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico port to the isthmus where a line and later a railroad took them to the Associated Press Opposition chief Guillermo Endara was beaten by Nodega backers after May's vote Three days after the vote men wearing T-shirts of Noriega's "Dignity Battalions" battered Endara and his two running mates in a bloody street scene captured by foreign cameras Endara spent his 53rd birthday in a hospital bed recovering from the attack "They were not battalions and they have no dignity" Endara said in a hospital interview as supporters held up his bloodied shirt THE INVASION OF PANAMA ed a hunger strike to I Bush He staged a hunger strike to press Noriega to accept his victory and urged his supporters not to accept the military rulers Endara served twice in the National Assembly and was Arias' minister of planning and economic policy in 1968 when Arias was thrown out of office for the third time after serving only 11 days as president Endara went into hiding was jailed for a time and eventually fled to exile When Arias reorganized his party as the Authentic Panamanist Party in 1983 after a long ban on political activity in the country Endara helped But Endara who studied at the University of Panama in Argentina and in New York lacked Arias' charisma and spent most of his time behind the scenes of the opposition's seemingly endless attempts to replace military regimes that began iron-fisted rule 21 years ago In a pre-election interview he put faith in the hope that the democratic process in Panama would prevail electoral fraud or not He said that if he won Noriega would be given a chance to leave gracefully but would be fired if he refused Noriega hired and fired presidents pretty much at will after taking over Panama's military in 1983 His last victim was Eric Delvalle who tried to fire Noriega after the general was indicted on drug charges last year in the United States Panamanian battalion's vehicles the rest fled Pentagon officials said The toughest fighting Wednesday however was encountered by soldiers of the 6th Mechanized Infantry Battalion and a battalion of the 87th Infantry Backed by light Sheridan tanks the US troops battled snipers before gutting the nine-story Comandancia building that housed Noriega's headquarters "There has been considerable burning" said Gen Colin Powell chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff "There's been quite a bit of fire down there" Across the bay American soldiers were using artillery and M-60 machine guns to attack loyalist barracks at Fort Amador according to reporters on the scene Toward the canal's eastern edge a battalion of 82nd Airborne paratroopers and a battalion of 7th Division infantrymen who were already in Panama took control of the dam that regulates the water supply for the canal The American soldiers also took over Gamboa Prison and freed about 50 Panamanian soldiers who had been jailed after allegedly participating in the October mutiny Fighting in the area was relatively light A US Marine rifle company accompanied by other units secured the Bridge of the Americas that spans the canal at its western end That was also a relatively quiet job Next comes the potentially messy job of sweeping through Panama City officials said "That has got to be our next job to get in there and clean that place out" Kelly Said In California more 7th Infantry Division troops lined up Wednesday to leave Fairfield's Travis Air Force Base Dense fog prevented Air Force transport airplanes from taking off for half a day Travis a Military Airlift Command base handles more cargo and passengers than any other military air terminal in the United States More than 70 C-5 and C-I41 transport planes are based there A spokesman at Beale Air Force Base 50 miles north of Sacramento said air tankers from the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing were providing support for the operation And at McClellan Air Force Base home of the Sacramento Air Logistics Center Maj Gen Trevor Hammond said: "We've got a team on standby ready to respond in any way we can But there have not been any specific requests so far" Bee staff writer Steve Gibson contributed to this report Continued from page Al beat another serviceman and sexually threatened his wife "That was enough" Bush said The White House said the Saturday incidents were but the latest and most serious of hundreds of recent episodes of harassment against Americans in Panama Officials said contingency planning for the operation began almost immediately after the failed October coup and was updated over the weekend Although military intervention became increasingly likely in recent weeks the administration engaged in secret communication with a Noriega lawyer as recently as last month in hopes of persuading the Panamanian strongman to step down Bush who monitored the invasion during its first three critical hours went on the air with only a couple hours of sleep to explain his decision "General Noriega's reckless threats and attacks upon Americans in Panama created an imminent danger to the 35000 American citizens in Panama" he said "As president I have no higher obligation than to safeguard the lives of American citizens That is why I directed our armed forces to protect the lives of American citizens in Panama and to bring General Noriega to justice in the United States" Bush moved immediately to restore normal relations with Panama under its new democratically elected president Guillermo Endara whose election was nullified by Noriega in 61 took the canal zone and let Congress debate and while the debate goes on the canal does also Theodore Roosevelt on the opening of the Panama Canal in August 1914 Pacific Coast They then boarded another ship for San Francisco Over the next half century there was much talk of building a canal across either Nicaragua or the portion of Colombia that eventually became Panama In fact President Franklin Roosevelt's father James Roosevelt was among the organizers of the Maritime Canal Co which proposed to build a canal across Nicaragua But capital dried up during the economic depression of the early 1890s When the canal was finally built it was constructed across Panama and by another Roosevelt The United States emerged from the Spanish-American War with a Caribbean empire and this brought about a resurgence of interest in a canal across the isthmus so the American fleet would be able to move quickly between the seas The war had provided an object lesson in naval needs The battleship Oregon ordered from Puget Sound to Cuban waters had been forced to make a high-speed voyage around South America while all America breathlessly followed her progress Theodore Roosevelt viewalg the world through the perspective of his friend and mentor Adm Alfred Thayer Mahan believed the United States should have an influence around the globe commensurate with its wealth and power and favored the construction of a Central American canal Roosevelt deciding that the Panamanian isthmus should be the site of the canal opened negotiations with the Colombians in the summer of 1903 They were offered $10 million plus an annual payment of $250000 for a six-mile right of way But the Colombians fearing that the canal would damage their sovereignty and also hoping to get a larger payment delayed ratification of the agreement That was a big mistake Impatient "to make dirt fly" before the 1904 presidential election Roosevelt denounced the Colombians as "inefficient bandits" and threatened to seize the canal strip by force Plainly the situation was ready for a revolt and the center of revolutionary activity was Room 1162 of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City where the conspirators gathered funds to pay for the coup They mustered a "patriot army" in Panama City consisting of 441 members of the local fire department and 500 Colombian soldiers who had been bribed at a total cost of $100000 The United States gunboat Nashville was sent to what is now Colon Panama to "protect American interests" and prevent the Colombians front debarking troops to put down the insurrection May The president said he is sending the US ambassador Arthur Davis back to Panama immediately He also told Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady and Secretary of State James Baker to release Panamanian assets frozen by the administration The president assured Panamanians that he remains fully committed to the Panama Canal treaties which call for a complete turnover of the waterway to Panama by the year 2000 He also pledged to recommend the new government's choice of a qualified Panamanian to take over as administrator of the canal in January as called for in the treaties "I hope that the people of Panama will put this dark chapter of dictatorship behind them and move forward together as citizens of a democratic Panama" Bush said "The United States is eager to work with the Panamanian people in partnership and friendship to rebuild their economy" At a State Department briefing Baker said the United States may agree to a request for economic aid from the new government Pointing to Noriega's declaration of war and the increasing attacks on Americans Baker said the US military strike was "fully in accord" with self-defense provisions of the charters of the United Nations and the cr of American States In addition he cited as legal justification US rights under the Panama Canal treaties to defend the strategically critical waterway The secretary disclosed that US officials consulted with Endara before launching the attack and received his consent UPI Defense Secretary Dick Cheney left and Gen Colin Powell chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff brief reporters Wednesday on the operation in Panama US canal dominated Panama from beginning Fifteen days after the coup newly independent Panama granted the United States control over a 10-mile-wide zone across the isthmus in perpetuity for the sum originally offered the Colombians The resulting treaty which gave the United States the right to intervene for the protection of the canal made Panama virtually an American protectorate Work on the canal began in May 1904 well in time for the Republican National Convention which nominated Roosevelt for a second presidential term The Panama Canal was opened to traffic in August 1914 Brushing off charges that he had acted improperly Roosevelt proclaimed: "I took the canal zone and let Congress debate and while the debate goes on the canal does also" Over most of its history since then Panama has been ruled by rival factions of a wealthy oligarchy who divided the spoils among themselves To maintain stability the inevitable uprisings were put down first by a show of American bayonets and later by diplomatic and economic pressures There was a slight improvement in US-Panama relations after a treaty was ratified in 1939 that released the country from its status as an American protectorate but in the mid-1960s there was bloody anti-Yankee rioting This came at a time of increasing doubts about the continued usefulness of the canal the largest American aircraft carriers and supertankers cannot pass through its locks and the canal's defensibility against attack In 1977 President Carter negotiated a treaty with Panama under which the canal would be turned over to Panamanian operations in the year 2000 Early next year a Panamanian administrator is scheduled to be appoired to direct operations of the canal A study in mixed By Edgar Sanchez Bee Staff Writer Ex-Panamanians- split on US move I £20 The Sacramento Bee Final Thursday December 21 1989 THE iNVASION OF PANAMA I 1 He staged a hunger strike to Bush iMngaytilThe uespramesidbenntsasdaoidr he slusreDnda- 2ndtry for I press Noriega to accept his victory vis back to Panama immediately and urged his supporters not to ac- Continued from page Al He also told Treasury Secretary 4f vo 9 A cept the military rulers Endara served twice in the Na- beat another serviceman and sexual- Nicholas Brady and Secretary ly threatened his wife State James Baker to release Panoaf- 1 tional Assembly and was Arias' That was enough" Bush said martian assets frozen by the adminis- The White House said the Satur- tration president minister of planning and economic policy in 1968 when Arias was day incidents were but the latest and The president assured Panamarii- 'tt- s- most serious of hundreds of recent ans that he remains fully committed 01 i I thrown out of office for the third episodes of harassment against to Panama Canal treaties which Associated Press 47 14 4- 5 time after serving only 11 days as the Americans in Panama call for a complete turnover of the lik: president Officials said contingency plan- waterway to Panama by the year PANAMA CITY Panama For A ok Endara went into hiding was :1 ning for the operation began almost 2000 He also pledged to recommend the second time in seven months I l' Jailed for a time and eventually fled immediately after the failed October the new government's choice of a Guillermo Endara has been de- 1 to exile coup and was updated over the qualified Panamanian to take over as dared president of Panama and if When Arias reorganized his par- weekend administrator of the canal in January once again it comes amid violent 's ty as the Authentic Panamanist Although military intervention be- as called for in the treaties clashes between his supporters '''''44 "I Party in 1983 after a long ban on came increasingly likely in recent "I hope that the people of Panama and those who back Gen Manuel political activity in the country En- weeks the administration engaged in will put this dark chapter of dictator- Antonio Noriega dara helped secret communication with a Noriega ship behind them and move forward Endara a portly affable lawyer But Endara who studied at the lawyer as recently as last month in together as citizens of a democratic and former law professor was and in New York lacked Arias' Universit3r of Panama in Argentina hopes of persuading the Panamanian Panama" Bush said "The United -Ni i- sworn in Wednesday after US Afr strongman to step down States is eager to work with the Pan- troops in a bid to oust Noriega Associated Press charisma and spent most of his Bush who monitored the invasion amanian people in partnership and launched an assault on the coun- time behind the scenes of the oppo- during its first three critical hours friendship to rebuild their economy" try Opposition chief Guillermo sition's seemingly endless attempts went on the air with only a couple At a State Department briefing His opposition activities date Endara was beaten by Node- to replace military regimes that be- hours of sleep to explain his decision Baker said the United States may back more than two decades to ga backers after May's vote gan iron-fisted rule 21 years ago "General Nor iega's reckless agree to a request for economic aid In a pre-election interview he when he served in the National As- threats and attacks upon Americans from the new government put faith in the hope that the demo- in Panama created an imminent dan- Pointing to Noriega's declaration sembly under Arnulfo Arias Ma- cratic process in Panama would drid Panama's grand old man of Three days after the vote men ger to the 35000 American citizens of war and the increasing attacks on the lectoral fraud or not prevail opposition wearing T-shirts of Noriega's "Dig- i in Panama" he said "As president I Americans Baker said the US mili- He said that he won Noriega have no higher obligation than to tary strike was "fully in accord" with Endara was Arias' spokesman in nity Battalions" battered Endara would be given a chance to leave Panama until Arias died in Miami and his two running mates in a safeguard the lives of American citi- self-defense provisions of the char- gracefully but would be fired if in 1988 in self-imposed exile bloody street scene captured by zens That is why I directed our ters of the United Nations and the foreign cameras Endara went his he refused armed forces to protect the lives of Organization of American States Last May Endara himself ran for 0-- Noriega hired and fired presi- president and exit polls showed 53rd birthday in a hospital bed re- dents pretty much at will after tak- American citizens in Panama and to Fit addition he cited as legal justifi ing over Panama's military in 1983 bring General Nonega to justice tice in cation US rights under the Panama him and his two vice presidential covering from the attack the United States" Canal treaties to defend the strategi- diplocandidates with an edge of about "They were not battalions and His last victim was Eric Delvalle Bush moved immediately to re- cally critical waterway 3-1 But Noriega nullified the re- they have no dignity" Endara said who tried to fire Noriega after the store normal relations with Panama The secretary disclosed that US results ignoring the outcry at home in a hospital interview as support- general was indicted on drug char- under its new democratically elected officials consulted with Endara be- and abroad ers held up his bloodied shirt ges last year in the United States president Guillermo Endara whose fore launching the attack and re- election was nullified by Noriega in ceived his consent Military A study Continued from page Al Panamanian battalion's vehicles the rest fled fighting had ended by sunrise Wednesday Pentagon officials said 1 in mixed combat continued in places throughout the day The toughest fighting Wednesday however in the city of about I million people At least 15 was encountered by soldiers of the 6th Mecha- US troops were killed 108 wounded and one nized Infantry Battalion and a battalion of the was missing Throughout the day Wednesday 87th Infantry Backed by light Sheridan tanks I i emotions- the American wounded were being returned to the US troops battled snipers before gutting a military hospital in Texas the nine-story Comandancia building that -4-' 0--- '6' Ex-Panamamans- Although President Bush ordered the multi- housed Noriegas headquarters tc I 6 pronged US assault Sunday it followed the "There has been considerable burning" said 61') t- A' ik split on US move f- outlines of a Pentagon contingency plan Gen Colin Powell chairman of the Joint Chiefs rt 1 drafted before Defense Secretary Dick Cheney of Staff "There's been quite a bit of fire down 1 i 11 By Edgar Sanchez took office this spring About 13000 American there" Bee Staff writer troops that were already in place in Panama Across the bay American soldiers were us- 'li Ie'- 44--- -4 provided the base of the operation ing artillery and M-60 machine guns to attack rr Those troops included a battalion of the high- loyalist barracks at Fort Amador according to 7 4 ly mobile 7th Infantry Division which is based reporters on the scene ik at California's Fort Ord The 7th Infantry Divi- Toward the canal's eastern edge a battalion lk '40 sion troops had been sent along with Marines of 82nd Airborne paratroopers and a battalion 7 1 a mechanized battalion from Fort Polk in Loui- of 7th Division infantrymen who were already gi- siana and some military police as reinforce- in Panama took control of the dam that regu- 1 14 i i ments to Panama several months ago in the lates the water supply for the canal The Ameri- wake of continued domestic violence can soldiers also took over Gamboa Prison and To join these units already in Panama anoth- freed about 50 Panamanian soldiers who had 1 1 er 7000 soldiers flew down throughout Tues- been jailed after allegedly participating in the 4 4: 4 oii day night and early Wednesday morning They October mutiny Fighting in the area was rela- Nt deo '44 included the two Ranger battalions and a bri- tively light gade of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne A US Marine rifle company accompanied Division About 2500 additional reinforce- by other units secured the Bridge of the Ameri- I' i I ments including more soldiers from the 7th In- cas that spans the canal at its western end That INIPopo fantry Division were to be flown in Wednes- was also a relatively quiet job 41 a day although bad weather was slowing down Next comes the potentially messy job of operations sweeping through Panama City officials said Simultaneous thrusts by four task forces "That has got to be our next job to get in dr 94 0 1 throughout the Panama Canal Zone in areas there and clean that place out" Kelly Said I controlled by Noriega's most loyal troops In California more 7th Infantry Division 1 tr 7 marked the first day of the operation troops lined up Wednesday to leave Fairfield's 411t4 Rangers who commonly jump into combat Travis Air Force Base Dense fog prevented Air I 1 -1 "1k carrying 100 pounds or more of equipment Force transport airplanes from taking off for 4 Y1 food made two parachute assaults into areas where half a day i it 1 r-t- stiff fighting was expected Travis a Military Airlift Command base han- Near Rio Hato about 90 miles southwest of dies more cargo and passengers than any other aggie the canal the Rangers of Task Force Red military air terminal in the United States More I fought two Panamanian infantry companies than 70 C-5 and C-141 transport planes are a 1 kv that had come to Noriega's defense during an based there A October coup attempt A number of the Pana- A spokesman at Beale Air Force Base 50 1 or martian soldiers escaped said Lt Gen Tom miles north of Sacramento said air tankers Kelly director of operations for the Pentagon's from the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing 4- I Joint Staff were providing support for the operation Another Ranger battalion parachuted onto And at McClellan Air Force Base home of rr the international airfield about 15 miles north- the Sacramento Air Logistics Center Maj Gen 4 4: east of Panama City and the canal After the air- Trevor Hammond said: "We've got a team on 'rs 'IT trsmoi' field was cleared more paratroopers from the standby ready to respond in any way we can 82nd Airborne jumped from C-141 transports But there have not been any specific requests upi and moved to immobilize Noriega's loyalist so far" in-Battalion 2000 Bee staff writer Steve Gibson contributed to Defense Secretary Dick Cheney left and Gen Colin Powell chairman of the Joint After US warplanes destroyed nine of the this report Chiefs of Staff brief reporters Wednesday on the operation in Panama US canal dominated Panama from beginmI ng By Nathan Miller Fifteen days after the coup newly indepen- Baltimore Sun dent Panama granted the United States control WASHINGTON "I took the canal zone 61 took the canal zone and let Congress debate and perpetuity for the sum originally offered the over a 10-mile-wide zone across the isthmus in and let Congress debate" Colombians The resulting treaty which gave These were not the words of President Bush while the debate goes on the canal does also the United States the right to intervene for the Panama-as he ordered a massive armed intervention in- Theodore Roosevelt on the opening of the Panama Canal in August 1914 protection of the canal made Panama virtually to Panama to oust Gen Manuel A Noriega but an American protectorate Work on the canal these of former President Theodore Roosevelt began in May 1904 well in time for the Repub- in defending his decision to seize the canal lican National Convention which nominated zone in 1903 Pacific Coast They then boarded another ship power and favored the construction of a Cen- Roosevelt for a second presidential term for San Francisco tral American canal The Panama Canal was opened to traffic in In the 86 years since then Panama has been Over the next half century there was much Roosevelt deciding that the Panamanian August 1914 Brushing off charges that he had dominated economically and politically by the American-controlled Panama Canal In fact talk of building a canal across either Nicaragua isthmus should be the site of the canal opened acted improperly Roosevelt proclaimed: "I Panama owes its existence as a nation to the or the portion of Colombia that eventually be- negotiations with the Colombians in the sum- took the canal zone and let Congress debate waterway that bisects it Protection of the canal came Panama In fact President Franklin mer of 1903 They were offered $10 million and while the debate goes On the canal does al- is a vital part of American policy and Washing- Roosevelt's father James Roosevelt was plus an annual payment of $250000 for a six- so" mile right of way But the Colombians fearing Over most of its history since then Panama among the or anizers of the Maritime Canal ton repeatedly has intervened in Panamanian factions of a wealthy Co which proposed to build a canal across that the canal would damage their sovereignty has been ruled by rival fa affairs to quash any perceived threat to the na- tion's stability Nicaragua But capital dried up during the eco- and also hoping to get a larger payment de- oligarchy who divided the spoils among them- nomic depression of the early 1890s When the layed ratification of the agreement selves To maintain stability the inevitable up- In the early years of Panama's history these canal was finally built it was constructed That was a big mistake Impatient "to make risings were put down first by a show of interventions took the form of armed force af- across Panama -and by another Roosevelt dirt fly" before the 1904 presidential election American bayonets and later by diplomatic ter World War I diplomatic and economic Roosevelt denounced the Colombians as "inef- and economic pressures pressure was substituted The challenge posed The United States emerged from the ficient bandits" and threatened to seize the ca- There was a slight improvement in US-Pan- by Noriega accused of trafficking in narcotics Spanish-American War with a Caribbean em- nal strip by force ama relations after a treaty was ratified in 1939 and the immediate prospect of Panamanian Pire and this brought about a resurgence of in- Plainly the situation was ready for a revolt that released the country from its status as an control of the canal appear to have been terest in a canal across the isthmus so the and the center of revolutionary activity was American protectorate but in the mid-1960s deemed sufficient grounds to return to the old American fleet would be able to move quickly Room 1162 of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in there was bloody anti-Yankee rioting days of armed intervention between the seas The war had provided an ob- New York City where the conspirators gath- This came at a time of increasing doubts American interest was first attracted to the ject lesson in naval needs The battleship Ore- ered funds to pay for the coup about the continued usefulness of the canal isthmus in the 1850s after the discovery of gon ordered from Puget Sound to Cuban They mustered a "patriot army" in Panama the largest American aircraft carriers and su- gold in California Rather than taking the ardu- waters had been forced to make a high-speed City consisting of 441 members of the local fire pertankers cannot pass through its locks and i ous overland route across the United States or voyage around South America while all Amer- department and 500 Colombian soldiers who the canal's ca breathlessly followed her progress defensibility against attack a long voyage around Cape Horn to the gold had been bribed at a total cost of $100000 The In 1977 President Carter negotiated a treaty fields travelers from the east could take a short Theodore Roosevelt viewillg the world United States gunboat Nashville was sent to with Panama under which the canal would be cut across the isthmus then part of Colombia through the perspective of his friend and men- what is now Colon Panama to "protect Ameri- turned over to Panamanian operations in the They traveled by ship from an Atlantic or Gulf tor Adm Alfred Thayer Mahan believed the can interests" and prevent the Colombians year 2000 Early next year a Panamanian ad- of Mexico port to the isthmus where a United States should have an influence around front debarking troops to put down the insur- ministrator is scheduled to be appoired to di- line and later a railroad took them to the the globe commensurate with its wealth and rection rect operations of the canal 4c' Panamanian-Americans in the Sacramento Valley expressed mixed emotions Wednesday about the US invasion of their homeland Some like Blasina Diaz of Sacramento said the move to oust dictator Manuel Noriega was long overdue: But others while supporting the action were displeased that the United States had again intervened in Latin America "I think it's about time that Mr Bush did something in Panama" said Diaz a native of Panama City who has spent 20 of her 50 years in the United States "He had to do something not only to get Noriega but to help the poor people who have been suffering" She said many of Panama's 2 million people are barely surviving as a result of widespread unemployment which opposition leaders put at 23 percent in 1988 "Many can't even buy food for their families" Diaz said suggesting that Noriega's policies were to blame "It's horrible" Rolando Villalobos a Modesto real-estate appraiser was ambivalent "I have good feelings and bad feelings" said Villalobos who immigrated to the United States from Panama nearly 20 years ago The good feel- ing is that Panama finally looks like it's going to change And almost any change in my opinion will be good for the country "Noriega has been a strong dicta-: tor and people suffered so much un- der his regime" he said "Now industry will start working again The 1 factories will rebound and people will be willing to invest in I because there won't be the fear that it dictator will take over" Still Villalobos had his 1 tions about the invasion "The United States should have no authority to rule in other countries" he said "It shouldn't tell the people -) of other countries how things are go- ing to be done "We must remember that Noriega (who took command of the Panamanian army in 1983) is a creation of 1 1 the United States" Villalobos said i noting that the United States at one time supported not only Noriega but his predecessor as dictator Omar Torrijos Other Panamanian-Americans liv 4 ing in Sacramento spoke on the con- 4 dition of anonymity saying they fear 1 for the safety of loved ones in Pane-ma "I agree one hundred percent with the United States" said one of them a 42-year-old woman who recently returned from a six-month stay in Panama "I hope the Americans catch Noriega and kill him" The woman added that during her stay in Panama she became cot- vinced that Noriega had lost his mind "He was doing things that had never been seen in my nation" she said "President Bush should have' acted a long time ago" Another Panamanian said she found it difficult to believe that the United States had put its foot down Panamanian-Americans in the Sacramento Valley expressed mixed emotions Wednesday about the US invasion of their homeland mento said the move to oust dictator Manuel Noriega was long overdue But others while supporting the ac-' tion were displeased that the United States had again intervened in Latin America "I think it's about time that Mr Bush did something in Panama" said Diaz a native of Panama City who has spent 20 of her 50 years in the United States "He had to do some- thing not only to get Noriega but to suffering" help the poor people who have been ffering" She said many of Panama's 2 mil- lion people are barely surviving as a result of widespread unemployment which opposition leaders put at 23 percent in 1988 "Many can't even buy for their families" Diaz said suggesting that Noriega's poli- cies were to blame "It's horrible" Rolando Villalobos a Modesto real-estate appraiser was ambiva- lent "I have good feelings and bad feel- ings" said Villalobos who immigrat- ed to the United States from Panama nearly 20 years ago "The good feel- ing is that Panama finally looks like it's going to change And almost any change in my opinion will be good for the country "Noriega has been a strong dicta- tor and people suffered so much un der his regime" he said "Now dustry will start working again The factories will rebound and people will be willing to invest in Panama because there won't be the fear that it Still Villalobos had his dictator will take over" reservad tions about the invasion "The United States should have no authority to rule in other countries" he said "It shouldn't tell the people ing to be done of other countries how thingsare go- "We must remember that Noriegi (who took command of the nian army in 1983) is a creation of the United States" Villalobos said noting that the United States at one time supported not only Noriega but his predecessor as dictator Omar Torrijos Other Panamanian-Americans liv-: ing in Sacramento spoke on the con- dition of anonymity saying they fear for the safety of loved ones in Pana- ma "I agree one hundred percent with the United States" said one of them a 42-year-old woman who recently returned from a six-month stay in Panama "I hope the Americans catch Noriega and kill him" The woman added that during her stay in Panama she became con- vinced that Noriega had lost his mind "He was doing things that had never been seen in my nation" she said "President Bush should have acted a long time ago" Another Panamanian said she found it difficult to believe that the United States had put its foot down in her homeland "Panama is a free nation an extremely proud and nationalistic nation" said the 13-year resident of the United States "Her people are not guerrillas like in El Salvador or Nicaragua" in her homeland "Panama is a free nation an ex tremely proud and nationalistic na tion" said the 13-year resident of the United States "Her people are not guerrillas like in El Salvador or Nica inure 1.