Panama Accuses U.S. of Threats, Treaty Violations

PANAMA CITY, Panama — The military accused the United States on Friday of intimidation and treaty violations, and the foreign minister said Panama was “an invasion site in which only the order to fire is lacking.”

After three days of U.S. military maneuvers and confrontations with Panamanian soldiers, the military issued a statement saying the Panamanian Defense Forces are facing “situations of intimidation and aggression by forces belonging to the Southern Command of the United States.”

In Washington, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said President Bush “would not rule out” seizing Panama’s de facto leader, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, to face charges in Florida in a federal narcotics case. Fitzwater said, however, that Bush was not contemplating such a move.

Noriega, commander of the Defense Forces, said Thursday he would not yield to U.S. demands that he step down.

“Panama will not bow to the law of force that those barbarians from the north, their (Panamanian) lackeys and tame politicians are trying to impose,” and will not “grovel” before the United States, he told a group of retired military officers.

Noriega repeated the accusations against the United States during a parade of thousands of Defense Forces troops and paramilitary civilian units, who ended a 10-day exercise Friday dubbed “Zap The Intruder.”