Prosperous and calm, Panama has long been an anchor of stability in turbulent Central America. But despite the placid facade, resentment has been building against a corrupt and authoritarian government. Last week that anger burst to the surface in some of the worst violence to hit Panama in a decade. The unrest was prompted by a serious allegation, that General Manuel Antonio Noriega, 48, commander of the Panama Defense Forces and the country's most powerful figure, helped arrange the 1981 air-crash death of his predecessor, General Omar Torrijos Herrera.
The charge came from Colonel Roberto Diaz Herrera, 49, a cousin of...
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