Panama Orders Arrest of Five Opposition Leaders After Raid : Head of Chamber of Commerce One of Those Targeted

PANAMA CITY, Panama —  The government today ordered the arrest of five opposition leaders, including Chamber of Commerce President Aurelio Barria, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the military-backed regime.

The arrest orders, issued by the attorney general’s office, follow a raid Tuesday by government agents on opposition headquarters at the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce. (Story, Page 6.)

Atty. Gen. Carlos Villalaz said documents seized during the raid reflected a plot by the National Civic Crusade opposition movement aimed at overthrowing the government.

The Civic Crusade has led nearly two months of anti-government demonstrations demanding the removal of the military strongman, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, who has been accused of corruption and other illegal activities.

Rally Planned Thursday

The raid and arrest orders by the military-backed civilian government came shortly before the opposition planned to hold its largest protest rally in three weeks. The rally is scheduled for Thursday.

Villalaz said state-security police were asked to arrest five Crusade leaders, including Barria. He did not know if the arrest orders had been carried out by this morning.

Hundreds of angry protesters taunted government agents with shouts of “murderer” and “justice” as officials raided the Chamber of Commerce offices and carted away boxes of documents. The protesters gathered in a driving rain to jeer and throw rocks at the government agents.

“(The raid) was another measure by the government to intimidate, scare and pressure businessmen,” Barria said in a late-night news conference Tuesday. “But with the abuses and errors of the government, the indignation, the reaction (against Noriega) grows.”

Papers Confiscated

He indicated that the government appeared to be trying to discourage businessmen from staging a general strike.

Officials of the attorney general’s office, accompanied by armed plainclothes security agents, searched through files at Crusade headquarters and confiscated papers they said threatened national security.

Federal prosecutor Mario Ballesteros told reporters after the raid that he was carrying out a legal order to search for “flyers posing a threat to state security” that had been printed and distributed by the organization.

Supporters of the Crusade, a coalition of more than 100 professional and business groups demanding the ouster of Noriega, surrounded Ballesteros and his aides as they walked back to their offices after the raid.