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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.