For days the rumors flew between the U.S. and Panama: a major shake-up was expected momentarily in the troubled Latin country. At 5:30 p.m. last Thursday, President Eric Arturo Delvalle, 51, appeared on nationwide television ahead of the evening news. Reading from a script, Delvalle told stunned viewers that he had asked for the resignation of General Manuel Antonio Noriega, 50, the military strongman who has run Panama for the past five years. Delvalle said he had requested Noriega to "voluntarily step aside" while the U.S. investigated drug-trafficking charges that federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa had brought against the general in early February. His remarks completed, Delvalle bade good evening to his fellow citizens, leaving them to wonder what would happen next.
They soon found out. Moving swiftly on Noriega's behalf, the National Assembly met in an emergency 1:15 a.m. session. In a ten-minute gathering attended by 38 of the body's 67 lawmakers, members voted unanimously to dismiss Delvalle, hitherto regarded as a Noriega puppet, and Vice President Roderick Esquivel. Though Delvalle insisted that he still held office, Education Minister Manuel Solis Palma, 71, was sworn in as President before dawn. Panama's military leaders left no doubt as to where they stood. Colonel Marcos Justines, whom Delvalle had named to succeed Noriega as chief of the Panamanian Defense Forces, flatly refused the job. "None of us wants to be commander," said a top officer. "Our commander is staying. The President is going. We all support Noriega."
The showdown spotlighted the drug-related crisis of authority that rages through Latin America. Accused of taking million-dollar payoffs in return for allowing narcotics to flow through Panama, Noriega is a graphic illustration of the power of drug lords to intimidate and corrupt the region's governments (see following story). The general is believed to be closely tied to a cocaine trade that begins in the jungles of South America and ends in U.S. neighborhoods from Boston to Beverly Hills. That has helped make Noriega a prime target for U.S. law-enforcement officials and diplomats, who want the general brought to justice and a democratic government in Panama. The U.S. halted economic and military aid to Panama last June, and has for months sought ways to force Noriega from power.
The latest attempt may have begun two weeks ago, when Delvalle met in Miami with Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs. Some sources said Abrams broached the idea of firing the strongman to remedy the political and economic crisis that has gripped Panama since anti-Noriega demonstrations took place last summer. According to one account, Abrams told Delvalle, "You know as well as I do that Mr. Noriega has to leave." Several days later Panamanian official asked Abrams whether the U.S. could withdraw the drug indictments against the general to induce him to step down. The answer: no deal.