‘Why should I go?’ asks General

Press, 14 July 1987, Page 10

‘Why should I go?’ asks General

NZPA-Reuter Panama City Panama’s military strongman, General Manuel Antonio Noriega, flatly rejected calls for his resignation in a television interview after weeks of protest against his rule. “Why should I go, why should I go?” he asked when questioned about whether he would consider giving up his powerful post to restore peace. “General Noriega doesn’t constitute a problem,” he said. General Noriega said the only people calling for his removal from the military, which rules behind the scenes here, were a small group of Panamanians whom he referred to as “the living dead” and United Statesbacked “racists.” “They’re a group that want to obtain power with the hands of the United States,” he said in the

interview. He did not elaborate, but called his opponents “racists” who “don’t like blacks” and said, “here the majority of us are hlArkQ “What we’re seeing here is the start of a class struggle,” General Noriega added. The military has been Panama’s de facto ruler since 1968, although the country technically has an elected Government, but General Noriega defended his role in an interview in “Time” magazine published yesterday. “If it were not for Latin American strongmen, civil or military, we would be speaking English from the Rio Grande to Patagonia,” he said in a written answer to questions submitted by the magazine. It was his first interview by a United States organisation since protests erupted in Panama last month. Asked about concerns

that United StatesPanama relations were at their lowest level ever, General Noriega said, “This is not true. In 1964, we broke relations with the United States. “As far as I know, President Delvalle’s government has no intention of doing that. What is true is that no Panamanian accepts external interference in his own affairs...”

Earlier, opposition leaders said the violence used by security forces against protests was “irresponsible, unjustified and stupid.” The country’s leading prelate, Archbishop Marcos McGrath, also condemned the violence, calling it “beyond all limits of proportion and justice. “It is inconceivable that white handkerchiefs were confronted with bullets, clubs and teargas,” said a communique issued by the "Civic Crusade,” a

loose alliance of business and opposition leaders. The Crusade has become the driving force behind protests against General Noriega. The reference to white handkerchiefs was to the main symbol of antiNoriega protest. Security forces opened fire with shotguns and teargas on Friday when thousands of people dressed in white and waving handkerchiefs tried to converge on a church in central Panama City for a protest rally. More than 300 people were arrested, according to official accounts, and there are unconfirmed reports that as many as 150 were injured when security forces moved to halt the street protests, forbidden since early last week by the Government. Most injuries were superficial wounds from small shotgun pellets, but Archbishop McGrath in

remarks to reporters, criticised the way security forces acted. “The forin of repression on Friday was beyond all limits of proportion and justice,” he said. In a homily before he spoke to reporters, he also said the situation in Panama was “critical” because of what he described as “rampant and growing corruption.” The newspaper, “La Republica” published a letter to General Noriega from President Eric Arturo Delvalle praising Panama’s 20,000-man military and police forces for “the responsibility, prudence and professionalism” with which they quelled Friday’s protests. Panama, site of the Panama Canal and an important international banking centre, has experienced unrest and anti-Government protests since early last month. .