Coup Maker

After supporting Panama's General Manuel Noriega for nearly five years, the Reagan Administration turned against him last February, when the swaggering strongman was indicted on drug-smuggling charges by two Florida grand juries. Since then Washington has tried and failed to force Noriega out with economic sanctions and to shift power to a civilian government headed by ousted President Eric Arturo Delvalle. Now, it seems, the State Department is focusing on a different man and a different strategy. The man: Lieut. Colonel Eduardo Herrera Hassan, a 20-year veteran of the Panamanian Defense Forces and a former Ambassador to Israel. The strategy: to encourage a coup within the Panamanian military.

While U.S. officials deny that Herrera is getting direct American help, they praise him as a bright and honest soldier who is committed to a professional rather than a political military force. A senior Administration official says with approval, "Noriega considers him a threat."

Herrera, 46, who is rumored to be either in Costa Rica or at a U.S. air base in Panama, has used clandestine radio appeals and fax messages to invite senior military officers to join him in a coup. These colonels are thought to be opposed to Noriega's acceptance of Cuban advisers and weapons, as well as $20 million in Libyan aid. Many enlisted men, unhappy about poor pay and the corruption above them, are also receptive.

Yet Herrera faces serious obstacles. For one thing, Noriega is well aware of his rival's moves, and has dismissed him from the military. Noriega has already stifled one overt coup attempt and nipped other plans. He and seven loyalists known as the "Magnificent Seven" constitute a ruthless faction eager to continue profiting from drugs and corruption.

Herrera's image in Panama is another handicap. A nephew of the late Panamanian Dictator Omar Torrijos, he led military crackdowns against civilian protesters in the former Canal Zone in the 1960s. Called home from Israel by Noriega last year to help repress demonstrations, he did so with what some considered an overly strong hand. Still, if Herrera could topple Noriega and keep the military out of politics while a democratic government emerged, that would more than satisfy U.S. interests. It might also be something of a miracle.