DATE=12/14/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PANAMA - COLOMBIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257163
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=PANAMA CITY
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: On the day that Panama celebrated gaining
control of the Panama canal from the United States
(Tuesday), new concerns have arisen over the security
of the waterway. As V-O-A's Greg Flakus reports from
Panama City, an attack on a Colombian military base
near the Panamanian border has underscored the need
for vigilance.
TEXT: Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso says the
fighting in Colombia is of concern to Panama,
especially when the action occurs close to the border.
/// MOSCOSO ACT (SPANISH) FADES UNDER ///
She says she would like the Colombian government to
take measures to ensure that guerrillas of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the
FARC, do not enter Panamanian territory. She says
Panama has security forces in the area but not in all
areas. She says her government is studying other
plans to defend the border region.
Fighting broke out Sunday in Colombia's Choco
province, on the Pacific coast, some 30 kilometers
south of the Panamanian border, when FARC guerrillas
stormed a Colombian marine base. There have also been
numerous incidents in which the Colombian insurgents
have crossed into Panamanian territory.
For his part, Colombian President Andres Pastrana says
the FARC actions represent a setback to the peace
process in his country.
/// PASTRANA ACT (SPANISH) FADES UNDER ///
He says the peace process was moving forward but that
the guerrilla actions in the past few days have
undermined confidence in the process.
Panama's border region with Colombia is a remote,
mostly undeveloped area where guerrillas can cross
back and forth between the two nations with ease.
Panama abolished its armed forces after the U-S
invasion of December, 1989, which ended the
dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega. Some U-S
critics of the canal transfer argue that Panama's
current national police force is incapable of
defending the canal or even Panamanian territory from
the battle-hardened Colombian guerrillas. Such
critics, including some former U-S military leaders,
have expressed alarm over the fact that the United
States has closed down all its bases in Panama and
failed to negotiate an agreement through which at
least a token force might have remained.
Panamanian officials say they have no intention of
discussing any plan through which the United States
would bring any forces back to Panama. But, in the
1977 Panama Canal Treaties, there is a clause that
would allow the United States to intervene if there
were a threat to the canal's security. But U-S
forces are now located far from the scene, at bases in
Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Some security
experts also note that the threat to the canal may not
come in the form of a military action, but as
terrorist sabotage.
Panamanian officials, however, downplay that concern,
noting that the canal is an international operation
and that closing it down would serve no nation's
interests. They say the waterway's best protection is
its neutrality and its utility for international
commerce. (Signed)
NEB/GF/TVM/gm
14-Dec-1999 20:29 PM EDT (15-Dec-1999 0129 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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