PANAMA: CONTROVERSIES PERSIST AS U.S. ARMY LEAVES PANAMA.
On July 30, the US withdrew Army South troops of the Southern Command from Fort Clayton, a military base set up in 1911 to defend the newly built canal. Only 300 US military personnel will remain in Panama, most as administrators and caretakers, until the canal and all remaining US properties revert to Panama after Dec. 31, 1999. As the process of reversion picks up, so do complaints in Panama that the US is ignoring its promise to clean up the facilities and complaints in Washington that the canal will not be properly defended against narcoterrorists and communists. In a formal ceremony, 1,300 US troops dressed in uniforms from 1911 and carrying Springfield rifles paraded before President Ernesto Perez Balladares and Southern Command chief Gen. Charles Wilhelm. Gen. Philip R. Kensinger, commander of US Army South, said the ceremony marked the end of nearly a century in which the US Army defended the canal and brought "peace and stability" to the region. He praised the troops of the Southern Command who participated in Operation Just Cause in December 1989, when the US invaded Panama to arrest Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega on narcotics charges. The base will be turned over to Panama in December, while Army South troops will be transferred to Puerto Rico. The Southern Command moved its headquarters to Miami in 1997 (see EcoCentral, 1997-10-09).
US leaves problems behind
As the withdrawal of US troops goes forward, the Panamanian government has stepped up its complaints that the US is leaving behind many areas contaminated by toxic materials and laced with undetonated explosives (see EcoCentral, 1998-11-19). One day after the Fort Clayton ceremony, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing contamination of the Emperador firing range, a bombing range at Balboa, and a depot at the former Rodman Naval Base. The US abandoned these areas on July 28, earlier than the August date previously agreed, without consulting Panama. The ministry said that violated agreements governing the decommissioning of bases and that the withdrawal of troops did not relieve the US of its responsibility to decontaminate the areas. The US would also be liable for compensating victims injured by unexploded munitions, it said. Less than a month before the latest Foreign Ministry complaint, Panamanian newspapers reported that a 17-year-old boy was seriously injured by an explosive device while working on...
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