Panama Moving Against The General

By John Greenwald

Firecrackers exploded over Panama City last week as the main opposition newspaper, La Prensa, prepared to resume publication for the first time since it was banned six months ago. After a government prosecutor returned the building's keys to the paper's owners, supporters waved white handkerchiefs and shouted with joy. "This is a victory of the international press," declared Publisher Ruben Carles, who said the reopening was due to foreign and domestic "pressures" on the government.

Nor was press freedom the only area where the regime of General Manuel Antonio Noriega was coming under pressure. The Panamanian strongman angrily rejected a plan to get him to hand over power to a civilian government. Drafted with U.S. backing by Jose Blandon, a trusted Noriega ally, the proposal called for the general to retire by spring and for free elections to be held in 1989. Noriega responded by having Blandon fired as Panama's consul general in New York City.

The general's reaction dismayed White House officials. Blandon drew up his plan last fall after mass protests swept Panama, prompted by charges that implicated Noriega in murder, drug smuggling and election fraud. According to Gabriel Lewis, Panama's former U.S. Ambassador, Noriega had asked Blandon for a blueprint that would let him retire without facing U.S. reprisals. Lewis arranged an October meeting between Blandon and Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, who stressed Washington's desire for democracy in Panama.

Blandon was in Washington last week to deliver fresh charges against his former boss. Republican Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York, co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, met with Blandon for three hours. D'Amato said afterward that Noriega had apparently used the / Panamanian military to found a "total criminal empire probably as large as any that may exist in the world." According to the Senator, Noriega's activities ranged "from drug running, protection, money laundering and arms trafficking to the illegal sale of passports." D'Amato quickly secured U.S. Marshals Service protection for Blandon and his family.

Blandon has been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Miami that is looking into charges that Noriega extracted protection money from drug traffickers based in Panama. Until last week, according to U.S. Government sources, some federal investigators felt they lacked sufficiently compelling evidence to indict Noriega. Blandon's testimony could strengthen their case -- especially if, as D'Amato says, the former consul general can provide documents and tape recordings to back up many of his allegations.

With reporting by John Borrell/Panama City and Elaine Shannon/Washington