DATE=9/2/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PANAMA DRUG BASE (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253392
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The new president of Panama, Mireya Moscoso,
who was sworn in on Wednesday, has shown little
enthusiasm for allowing the United States to maintain
an anti-drug-smuggling operation in her country to
fill the vacuum left by the departure of the US
military from bases in the former canal zone. As V-O-
A's Greg Flakus reports from Panama City, however, a
small-scale operation may still be considered.
TEXT: In her comments to reporters earlier this week,
Mireya Moscoso denied having had any talks with U-S
officials about maintaining a multilateral drug
interdiction center in Panama. She said that if such
an agreement did come about, it would have to be
approved by Panamanian voters in a referendum.
President Moscoso met briefly with U-S Attorney
General Janet Reno Thursday but the matter did not
come up in their discussion. Before departing, Ms
Reno, who was the official U-S representative at the
inauguration on Wednesday, issued a statement that
said only that the United States and Panama will
maintain and deepen their cooperation on law
enforcement issues.
But one top cabinet officer in the Moscoso government,
Minister of Government and Justice Winston Spadafora,
has indicated that there is, at least, some
possibility of allowing a US operation in Panama to
combat drug trafficking. He has stressed, however,
that there have been no negotiations yet and it is too
early to speculate on what kind of facility might be
developed. U-S officials have also made clear that
there will be no change in current plans for U-S
military withdrawal from Panama.
People close to the new government, however, say that
one idea that might be considered would be what the U-
S military refers to as a forward operating location,
or F-O-L. This would consist of an air strip
maintained by no more than a dozen military personnel.
They would dress in civilian clothes while off site
and would stay in local hotels as opposed to living in
permanent homes. Flight crews and planes would be
brought in from other sites for rotational tours of no
more than two or three months.
U-S officials have been exploring the possibility of
establishing a F-O-L in some other part of Central
America because they see the departure from bases in
Panama as leaving a large gap in the effort to curtail
drug trafficking in the region.
/// REST OPTIONAL ///
Under the 1977 Panama Canal treaties all of the U-S
bases are to be turned over to Panama by the end of
this year and most, in fact, have already been turned
over. There are currently only a few hundred US
military personnel left in Panama, mostly involved in
administrative duties related to the transition.
US officials failed in efforts to negotiate an
agreement with the previous government of President
Ernesto Perez Balladares to maintain a small US anti-
narcotics base in Panama. The planes that once flew
out of Panama bases to patrol for drug smugglers are
now operating out of F-O-Ls established in Aruba,
Curacao and Ecuador. (Signed)
NEB/GF/TVM/gm
02-Sep-1999 16:27 PM EDT (02-Sep-1999 2027 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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