Hoped to Foment Panama Uprising, Reagan Indicates

WASHINGTON —  President Reagan indicated Tuesday that the United States had hoped to foment a popular uprising in Panama to drive Gen. Manuel A. Noriega from power but that the plan failed because the military strongman intimidated the populace with armed force.

Speaking at a brief news conference at the White House, Reagan refused to discuss the details of his Administration’s effort to negotiate a deal with Noriega under which the general would relinquish power and leave the country. But he left little doubt that he is unsatisfied with the progress of the talks.

Asked if he was angry that Noriega had been able to publicly humiliate the United States, Reagan said, “Whether I’m angry or not doesn’t count.”

“We had hoped that we could make it (possible for the) people of Panama themselves to exert some pressure and do something,” Reagan said. “And, I guess, having run into their own armed troops willing to shoot, and shooting, kind of cooled that down.”

According to Administration sources, Reagan has personally approved a U.S. plan that would require Noriega to leave his country for a year but apparently would allow him to retain effective control of the government. The sources said that the deal calls for federal prosecutors to drop drug-trafficking charges pending against Noriega in Florida.

Reagan refused to confirm the purported deal.

“We’re negotiating right now, and therefore I can’t comment on negotiations that are under way,” he said.

Meanwhile, Stanley E. Morris, the chief of the U.S. Marshals Service, warned that if the negotiations break down, the service will pursue Noriega just as it would any other fugitive.

Morris criticized news reports that maintained that it is unlikely Noriega will be brought to justice because Panamanian law does not provide for extraditing Panamanian nationals. Morris said Noriega’s representatives are seeking guarantees that the indictments will be dismissed, an apparent indication that they believe the general can be prosecuted.

‘Pretty Good at This’

“We have two valid arrest warrants for him issued in the middle and southern districts of Florida, and we’re pretty good at this,” Morris said of the marshals, who recently orchestrated the arrest of fugitive drug trafficker Juan Matta Ballesteros from Honduras, despite a similar gap in extradition law.

Reagan, reacting to criticism on Capitol Hill and from Panamanian opposition leaders that the U.S. government is ready to give in to Noriega, said, “We’re not going to just whitewash anybody.”

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Senate voted, 86 to 10, for a resolution calling on the Administration to keep the Florida indictments on the books even if Noriega agrees to relinquish power.

The non-binding “sense of the Congress” resolution, sponsored by Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), the minority leader, urged that “no negotiations should be conducted nor arrangements made by the United States government with Noriega that would involve the dropping of the drug-related indictments against him.”

Prohibit Military Aid

In a separate action, the Senate voted, 95 to 0, to prohibit U.S. military aid to Panama until the President certifies that Noriega has relinquished power, cannot pick his successor and that there are no Soviet, Cuban or Nicaraguan troops in Panama. The measure has no immediate practical impact, however, because the Administration has already impounded military aid to the regime.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said of the Dole amendment, “We don’t think it’s particularly helpful to shut off any kind of options in advance in this kind of circumstance. . . . Any time that you have options limited when you’re in negotiations, it’s not helpful but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Dole acknowledged that the White House opposes his resolution. But he said that the indictments should remain on the books even if a deal already has been struck with Noriega.

“Maybe he’ll never be brought to trial, but it seems to me the indictments should stand,” Dole said.

Holding Firm

The U.S. government began its attempt to negotiate an end to the Noriega regime after U.S. economic sanctions failed to bring the Panamanian strongman down. Although no details have been officially confirmed, Administration sources have said that Noriega has held firm while U.S. negotiators have repeatedly softened the terms of the proposed deal.

“What we’re interested in is a restoration of democracy in Panama,” Reagan said.

Morris said that he could think of “nothing sillier” than responding to a question about whether the marshals have plans to apprehend Noriega inside his own country. But he said the U.S. government has ways of capturing fugitives.

“I don’t think I really need to send a message,” he told reporters at the National Press Club. “One of the items that seems to be of great concern to him . . . is the washing (away) of those (arrest) warrants.”

“We take the orders of a court very seriously,” Morris said.

He said that “everybody at the Justice Department thinks the indictments ought to go forward, but that isn’t the exclusive decision of the Department of Justice. The President has to weigh a whole range of issues.

“If the indictments are dropped, there will be a lot of thick lower lips around the Department of Justice,” Morris said, “but the President has larger responsibilities, and that’s whom we work for.”