Americans Working in Panama Testify to Noriega Harassment
WASHINGTON — American and Panamanian citizens have been beaten, threatened and held captive by Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega’s government forces, witnesses told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee Thursday.
A parade of witnesses told of a mounting campaign of harassment against American employees of the Panama Canal Commission as political conditions in Panama have worsened.
Chairman Roy Dyson of the subcommittee on the Panama Canal noted that Noriega has become more abusive toward commission employees since the United States imposed sanctions on Panama last year after Noriega was indicted in Florida for drug trafficking.
Karl Marohl, president of the international union of operating engineers, told the subcommittee that he was held for 14 hours in March and kicked and beaten repeatedly.
Marohl said that while more U.S. troops have been sent to Panama, this did not offer much reassurance to commission employees since the soldiers remain in barracks.
Panamanian forces have police jurisdiction in U.S. housing areas, and the committee was told that they harass commission employees going to work, school or shopping by stopping their cars.
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