Joachim Bamrud

 PANAMA CITY, Panama (UPI) -- Manuel Noriega deposited more than $100
million in the Bank of Credit and Comerce International before he was
ousted as president of Panama in 1989, the country's former ambassador
to the United States said.
 ``Our investigation showed that he deposited between $100 million and
$150 million in BCCI in London, from 1983'' until his removal by U.S.
forces in 1989,said Eduardo Vallarino, who was Panama's ambassador in
Washington until his resignation last April.
 Vallarino, a Christian Democrat who became Panama's ambassador in
February 1990, resigned to protest President Guillermo Endara's
expulsion of the Christian Democrats from the four-party coalition
government. 
 Noriega is now in a Miami jail awaiting trial on drug trafficking
charges. The trial, already postponed several times, is scheduled to
start September 3.
 Vallarino said Friday the Panamanian government had not done enough
to investigate Noriega's funds in the BCCI and other places and to have
the funds frozen. 
 Government officials refused to comment on Vallarino's statements.
 Panamanian authorities have previously estimated Noriega's fortune at
more than $300 million in bank accounts and property worldwide. Of that,
only $20 million in bank accounts in Great Britain, has been frozen,
Vallarino said.
 BCCI branches in Great Britian, Panama, the United States and other
countries were closed in July after authorities discovered massive
irregularities and criminal activities.
 Colombian and American drug traffickers used the BCCI branch in
Panama to launder hundreds of millions of dollars of drug profits
between 1980 and 1986, according to Daniel Gonzalez, the bank's former
Panamanian deputy director who detailed the dealings in a book that
became a bestseller in Panama last month.
 Vallarino said Noriega may have deposited more than $150 million in
BCCI in London. The Panamanian embassy's investigation was only partial
and stopped last November, when the government ordered the investiagtion
transfered to Carlos Rodriguez, a Panamanian banker in Miami and close
friend of Endara, Vallarino said.


Wrom: NHG
href="/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=author:clarinews%40clarinet.com+">JOACHIM BAMRUD (clarinews@clarinet.com)
Subject: 
Noriega faces murder charges in Panama if freed 
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international, 
clari.news.law.crime.trial, 
clari.news.politics.people





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Date: 1991-08-15 01:18:08 PST 

	_  PANAMA CITY, Panama (UPI) -- Deposed strongman Manuel Noriega will
face murder charges in Panama if he is acquitted of drug trafficking and
money laundering charges in the United States, Panamanian officials said
Wednesday.
	``I hope he returns so he can stand trial for murder and embezzlement
charges,'' said Miguel Batista, a close aide of President Guillermo
Endara, who was installed when a December 1989 U.S. military invasion
ousted Noriega from power.
	The former strongman, who ruled Panama from 1983 until the invasion,
is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 3 in Miami.
	If he is acquitted in the United States, Noriega ``will return and
rule the people of Panama as he did in the past,'' his main defense
lawyer, Frank Rubino, said Tuesday.
	A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office in Miami said Noriega will
probably not be permitted to return to Panama if he is acquitted.
	A Panamanian Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be
identified, said Wednesday Panama had requested the extradition of
Noriega on different charges on three different occasions between
November 1990 and March of this year.
	The March request asked that the United States extradite Noriega so
he can face trial on charges he ordered the 1985 murder of his critic
Hugo Spadafora, a popular former deputy health minister.
	If found guilty in the Spadafora case, Noriega would face up to 20
years imprisonment, the maximum penalty for murder in Panama,
authorities said.
	The death of Spadafora, whose decapitated body was found in Costa
Rica on the Panamanian border in September 1985, sparked massive
protests and led to the resignation of President Nicolas Ardito
Barletta.
	Barletta said he was forced to resign as president by the Noriega-led
army after he promised to name an independent commission to investigate
the death of Spadafora.
	Batista said he does not believe Noriega would be acquitted in Miami.
	``The Americans will not let him go. They have to condemn him,''


Wrom: OTW
href="/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=author:clarinews%40clarinet.com+">JOACHIM BAMRUD (clarinews@clarinet.com)
Subject: 
Panama's new export zones to create badly needed jobs 
Newsgroups: clari.biz.features, 
clari.biz.economy.world





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Date: 1991-07-29 02:49:53 PST 

 _ U_ P_ I_  _ N_ e_ w_ s_ f_ e_ a_ t_ u_ r_ e
	
	PANAMA CITY, Panama (UPI) -- International investors plan to create
tax-exempt ``export zones'' in Panama under a new law designed to create
badly needed jobs in the Central American nation.
	The construction of manufacturing plants by investors from Asia,
Europe and the United States could generate more than 35,000 new jobs
within eight years, authorities say.
	Products ranging from textiles to computers will be shipped to
markets throughout the Americas as well as in Europe and Asia with no
tax on profits.
	``It is a path towards the creation of massive employment,'' said
Juvenal Monteza, deputy director of the Commerce Ministry's institute
for foreign trade.
	The investors are taking advantage of a 7-month-old law that exempts
the export processing zones from Panama's tough tax laws and provides
liberal tax breaks.
	Unemployment is running at about 25 percent in Panama, and the
government is anxious to get the new zones started as quickly as
possible. They will be the first of their kind in a country
traditionally dominated by the service sector and agricultural exports.
	The new law gives export zones full tax-exemption on profits for the
first 10 years if set up in Panama City or Colon, the country's second
largest city. Tax breaks are extended to 20 years if the zone is set up
in other locations in the country, where unemploment is more severe,
Monteza said.
	The law also grants exemption from the country's tough labor code,
allowing companies in the zones the right to dismiss workers and ban
strikes.
	The government of Taiwan is financing the $10 million construction of
one of the zones, which will be operated by a private Taiwanese firm.
About 6,000 Panamanians will be hired to manufacture garments, furniture
and other products for sale in the United States and Latin America, said
Daniel Chu, the project's manager.
	``We chose Panama because of its geographical location, its
infrastructure, which includes the Panama Canal, its dollar-based
economy and international banking center and its unregulated access to
the U.S. market,'' Chu said.
	Unlike Taiwan, Panama is not subject to U.S. import quotas or other
trade restrictions. Furthermore, the country offers generous tax
benefits for exports to the United States as part of the U.S. Caribbean
Basin Initiative.
	In joint ventures with companies from the United States, Canada,
Europe and Asia, a Panamanian group called Telepuerto Panama is planning
to build a zone close to Tocumen international airport near Panama City.
Computers, communications equipment and electronics will be manufactured
there for export to the United States, Europe and Asia.
	The project could generate 2,000 high-paid jobs within the next five
years, said Ricardo Munoz, director of the company's board.
	Another zone employing 10,000 to 15,000 Panamanians within the next
eight years is planned for Colon on Panama's Caribbean coast.
Businessmen from Hong Kong, China, the United States and Canada plan to
manufacture garmets for export to the lucrative U.S. market, said
Ricardo Wong, the project's coordinator.
	Two projects by Panamanian business groups would create zones near
Panama City to assemble clothes, computers and toys for markets in the
United States and Europe.
	A sixth project is planned by Ganun International Holding, a group of
Hong Kong businessmen backed by major Asian investors. The group plans
to create a zone, along with tourist projects, near the United States'
Howard Air Base.
	The United States has some 10 military bases in Panama, but under a
1977 U.S.-Panamanian treaty all bases will be closed by the year 2000.
	A Panamanian government commission is still deciding how to best use
the bases once they are returned to Panama.
	Negotations between Ganun and Panama will have to wait until the
commission presents its master plan, Monteza said. The plan should be
ready within the next couple of weeks, he said.


Wrom: CXL
href="/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=author:clarinews%40clarinet.com+">JOACHIM BAMRUD (clarinews@clarinet.com)
Subject: 
Panama's beleaguered president fights cartoon war 
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international, 
clari.news.features, 
clari.news.politics.people, 
clari.news.law.civil





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Date: 1991-07-21 03:43:24 PST 

 _ U_ P_ I_  _ N_ e_ w_ s_ f_ e_ a_ t_ u_ r_ e
	
	PANAMA CITY, Panama (UPI) -- President Guillermo Endara has provoked a
cartoon war in Panama for filing libel charges against a political
cartoonist, who now faces imprisonment.
	``This is totally out of place, especially now that we are living in
a democracy,'' said Joaquin Carrasquilla, a cartoonist at the
independent daily La Prensa whose cartoon, published in June, angered
Endara.
	``Endara has broken a golden rule among politicians ... not paying
attention to cartoons and even less answering them,'' said an editorial
in La Prensa.
	During the three weeks since Endara filed the charges, Panamanian
newspapers have run almost daily cartoons attacking the 55-year-old
president's lack of a sense of humor.
	``Since Endara has decided to create ridicule, why doesn't he file
charges and jail public opinion, since it's their opinion that is
expressed by our cartoonists?'' asked La Prensa, which called the
charges a ``declaration of war against freedom of expression in Panama.''
	In Panama libel is punishable with jail. Carrasquilla, 24, faces at
least a year behind bars if convicted, said a spokeswoman for the
attorney general's office.
	The controversial cartoon showed a two-headed Endara standing next to
two former aides of former strongman Manuel Noriega, Panama's dictator
who was deposed by a December 1989 U.S. invasion that installed Endara
as president.
	The two Noriega associates had just been released on bail from a
Panamanian prison, causing a storm of criticism from Panamanians,
including Endara himself, of the judge who ordered the release.
	In the cartoon, one head of Endara was angry, while another head was
smiling at the two as if pleased. The two aides were running and
carrying two suitcases full of money, of which some was falling in the
direction of Endara, hinting that he or his administration had taken
money for their release.
	The two were later re-arrested on new charges. The judge is being
investigated for possible wrongdoing.
	Endara has asked the attorney general to punish the cartoonist, who
he said attacked his honor.
	``The cartoon ... clearly attributes criminal acts to me, as well as
... dishonors, discredits and scorns me as a person, '' Endara said in a
letter to the attorney general.
	The libel charges have led to widespead criticism of the president
for going after cartoonists instead of solving the nation's grave
problems, which include an estimated 25 percent unemployment, a rising
crime wave and a slow and innefficient justice system.
	The cartoon war is expected to hurt the already unpopular Endara,
whose support in public opinion polls has slipped to a dismal 14 percent
from the more than 90 percent support he enjoyed shortly after the U.S.
invasion.
	Although the Endara government has generally respected freedom of
expression and permited the reopening of several newspapers, television
and radio stations closed by Noriega, journalists say he is becoming
more intolerant.
	``Endara is using Noriega's libel laws, but not even Noriega went
after a cartoonist,'' said Franklin Bosquez, president of Panama's
journalist association.
	In November Dagoberto Franco, a columnist at the opposition daily El
Siglo, was detained for two days after Endara filed charges against him
for libel. Franco had written that he doubted Endara was unaware of
money laundering in a bank where he was a member of the board for years.
	The detention led to national and international protests. About 300
journalists marched to the presidential palace demanding that Endara
abolish Noriega's slander laws.
	They were met by an angry president waiving the penal code and saying
he had a right to file charges against anyone who attacked his honor.
	Franco was released on bail, but still faces the original charges
when the case eventually comes up in court.
	He also faces libel charges brought by Endara's 24-year old wife,
Ana, after he wrote about a dispute between the first lady and Endara's
26-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Marcela. The two had
quarraled over the right to use the jewelry of Endara's deceased wife,
Franco wrote in a May column.
	The libel charges come in addition to other recent attacks against
Panama's media. Earlier this month Radio Continente, one of the
country's leading news stations, was hit by a bomb explosion that
damaged some of the equipment but caused no injuries.
	The owner of the station believes former Noriega supporters were
behind the attack.
	And on July 9, the owners of Panama-America and Critica Libre, two of
Panama's largest newspapers, were presented with a $300,000 electricity
bill from before the invasion, when the papers were controlled by
Noriega associates. The owners view the bill as a form of pressure from
the government to tone down critical stories.
	Meanwhile, the war between Endara and Panama's cartoonists continues.
	A communique signed by the country's newspaper cartoonists earlier
this month demanded that the slander demand be withdrawn immediately.
The communique was accompanied by a cartoon showing the president's
chair being attacked by half a dozen ballpoint pens.
 _ a_ d_ v_  _ s_ u_ n_  _ j_ u_ l_ y_  _ 2_ 1
 _ a_ d_ v_  _ m_ o_ n_  _ j_ u_ l_ y_  _ 2_ 9

Batista said.