Panama: The Enduring Irritant

In the course of his Venezuelan speech last week, Henry Kissinger promised to negotiate differences between the U.S. and its Latin-American neighbors "with parity and dignity." As proof of his good intentions, the Secretary of State noted that the U.S. and Panama "are continuing to move forward in their historic negotiations on a Panama Canal treaty to establish a reliable long-term relationship between our two nations." Kissinger's Latin listeners, who unanimously support the return of the canal to Panama, were attentive but skeptical.

The fact is that progress has been snail-paced in the two years since Kissinger and Panamanian Foreign Minister Juan Antonio Tack signed a joint statement of principles to launch negotiations on terms for returning the canal.

The longer negotiations continue between U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Ellsworth Bunker and Panamanian Strongman Brigadier General Omar Torrijos Herrera, the more obstacles seem to crop up. A conservative bloc led by South-Carolina's Senator Strom Thurmond flatly opposes surrender of U.S. sovereignty over the canal; 34 votes in the Senate are enough to defeat a treaty embodying the terms of the Bunker negotiations, and at the moment Thurmond's bloc appears to have them. Thurmond is vocally supported on the scene by Zonians--especially the 4,500 U.S. civilians who operate the canal; some of their families have lived there for three generations. Alarmed by the negotiations and by falling canal traffic, which is forcing economy cuts, the Zonians last week held a rare public protest to flay Kissinger and the Administration.

Bunker, meanwhile, was 3 back on Contadora Island, the negotiation site, 30 minutes by helicopter from Panama City.

For the latest talks, he brought an enlarged delegation from Washington; the size of the group, plus the fact that it included a retired Army general, convinced some observers that the Pentagon had softened its opposition to the negotiations.

Until now military experts have opposed proposals to reduce U.S. bases in the canal from 14 to three and eliminate the Army's inter-American training school. The school has trained officers from all over Latin America, but is criticized by leftists for its anti-guerrilla courses.

The official U.S. view is that there is no reason, military or economic, not to return the 51-mile-long canal. Neither supertankers nor the biggest U.S. aircraft carriers can squeeze through it. Yielding the waterway, moreover, would remove a major irritant in U.S. relations with Latin Americans, who have long resented the second-class status of Panamanians in the zone. But in return for giving up the canal and increasing payments to the Panamanian government for its use, the U.S. wants operating control at least until the beginning of the 21st century.

The negotiations are nevertheless a political booby trap for both sides. The canal may yet become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Ronald Reagan met several months ago in Boca Raton, Fla., with former Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias, whom Torrijos ousted in 1968. Earlier Reagan had accused the Administration of "giving up the defense of the hemisphere on the installment plan." As for Arias, he reportedly promised a softer Panamanian stand if he returned to power. Torrijos seems to accept the Ford Administration's efforts to keep negotiations low-key until after the November elections.

By then the Panamanian leader may be facing sizable pressures. To prevent the return of Arias, a political oligarch, the general is keeping a watchful eye on the former President's well-heeled supporters. Last month, after wealthy farmers and businessmen met to protest the government's agrarian and educational reforms, Torrijos retaliated by packing eleven of his critics off into exile in Ecuador. After a five-day slowdown by business leaders, Torrijos changed his mind and agreed to allow the exiles to return. Heavier pressure is coming from leftist university students who demand the speedy return of the canal and total elimination of the American presence. Marching last month in memory of 21 "martyrs" who were killed by "Yanqui bullets" during bloody Canal Zone riots in 1964, students carried placards with the curt warning: NO BASES.

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