Delvalle Disavows Effort to Quash Panama Opposition

PANAMA CITY —  Panama’s President Eric A. Delvalle on Friday criticized controversial measures that his government has taken against the political opposition in recent weeks, and said several of them were carried out without his advance knowledge.

Delvalle said a raid by government agents on the Chamber of Commerce building this week was “totally unwarranted” and that he did not agree with the government-ordered closings of opposition media outlets.

Despite the continuing political unrest in the country, Delvalle also said that he has not met in two weeks with Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, the commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces, who is the target of the protests.

“I haven’t been able to talk eye-to-eye with him for a couple of weeks. He is busy,” Delvalle said in an interview with The Times.

The president is widely considered a figurehead for Noriega who, as the country’s only general, leads a 20,000-man military force.

Delvalle insisted that dialogue between Noriega and the political opposition was the only solution to end the country’s unrest. He criticized the opposition National Civic Crusade for its unwillingness to talk to Noriega but said its leaders are so concerned for their personal safety that they are “beyond a normal state of reasoning.”

Although the Civic Crusade leaders view Noriega as “the problem,” Delvalle said, “he can be the solution. . . . He is the solution if he sits down, reasons and says why in the world am I going to do this to my country, my family and my institution?”

During a 90-minute interview at the Presidential Palace, Delvalle said he was convinced the country eventually would come under full civilian rule.

“Panamanians as a whole want democracy. We are working towards it. After 16 years of military rule, we have to work out a lot of aspects to bring back a full and stable democracy. Maybe we are going too slow. Maybe (the opposition) wants it too fast. It is an in-between we are after,” he said.

Delvalle also said:

-- Panama today is like Nicaragua in the final years of the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. Opposed by everyone but the CIA and the Pentagon, Somoza was able to stay in power for several years, Delvalle said, until the economy was destroyed and “a mere bunch of Communists took over.”

-- The United States is sending “mixed signals” regarding its policy towards Panama. Delvalle criticized the Reagan Administration for cutting off economic aid and warned that he will “come under pressure” to turn to the Soviet Union for help. On Thursday, Secretary of State George P. Shultz publicly endorsed Panama’s opposition and said that U.S. aid would be frozen until democratic reforms are instituted. However, the CIA and the Pentagon are known to support Noriega and maintain the embattled leader gives stability to U.S. bases in Panama.

-- If a federal grand jury in Miami investigating Noriega for a drug conspiracy were to issue an indictment, “he has to be replaced in that event.”

Noriega’s former chief of staff, army Col. Robert Diaz Herrera, set off the political crisis in Panama two months ago when he accused the general of government corruption, election fraud in 1984 and the killing of a political critic in 1985.

Made Up of Businessmen

The Crusade to oust Noriega is led by the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce, which is made up largely of middle class businessmen.

Last Tuesday, a representative of Atty. Gen. Carlos Villalaz and armed security agents raided the Chamber of Commerce building, where the Crusade is based, and confiscated four boxes of files. That night, Villalaz ordered the arrest of six of the Crusade leaders, who have apparently gone into hiding.

“(The attorney general) and I are not on the best of terms these days,” Delvalle said. “I think it (the raid) was totally unwarranted. . . . I’m still waiting to see what they have gotten.”

Villalaz said that among the papers seized were documents indicating a plot to overthrow the government, and this find is what prompted the arrest warrants for the six Crusade leaders.

An Ally of Noriega’s

The attorney general is considered to be an ally of Noriega’s, but Delvalle said Villalaz denied taking orders from Noriega for the raid.

“He told me he did it on his own,” the president said.

Delvalle said he was not sure who in the judicial system ordered the closure of the opposition newspapers last week, one day before the army surrounded Diaz’ home, where he had been holed up, and arrested him after a brief gunfight. While in custody, Diaz withdrew some of his charges against Noriega.

The president said the papers had published stories that jeopardized the country’s economy. He said that Panama has laws that call for fining reporters who publish inaccurate or irresponsible stories and that those laws should be used rather than closing down the opposition press.

“I am at a loss as to why the paper pays for the problem and not the writer,” Delvalle said. “I can only say to you I don’t agree.”

He said as president he has no authority over the attorney general.

On Thursday, Delvalle overturned an order by Noriega’s cousin, Panama City Mayor Jilma Noriega de Jurado, that had prohibited an opposition rally scheduled for later in the day. The Crusade turned out 20,000 to 30,000 protesters waving white flags, the symbol of opposition to the general. Panama has been the scene of often-violent demonstrations since early June calling for the ouster of Gen. Noriega.

Noting that the government held a rally a week earlier marking the 6th anniversary of the death of former strongman Gen. Omar Torrijos, Delvalle said, “I felt that if we had our rally they should have theirs.”

Delvalle said he has to fight to get his government programs through the National Assembly, which is controlled by the Democratic Revolutionary Party, the political arm of the military.

“Noriega is the Panamanian Defense Forces. The Panamanian Defense Forces have a political arm which is the Democratic Revolutionary Party, which has 51% of the National Assembly, which gives them tremendous clout,” he said.

“I have to negotiate with them to get my laws and programs through. . . . It is difficult under these circumstances. . . . He represents a group which you can say is a political party and he is the important factor,” Delvalle said.