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Delvalle, meanwhile, had grown convinced that Noriega would have to go. But nothing suggested that the President had the nerve to sack the general. A graduate of Louisiana State University and a former sugar-company executive, Delvalle was Vice President in 1985, when Noriega fired President Nicolas Ardito Barletta. Associates say Delvalle has increasingly sought to become his own man. "He didn't want to go into history as a Panamanian who lacked the guts to do what his country needed," explains a close friend. "Delvalle was not pressured by the U.S. to do this. He was pressured by his conscience."
Returning to Panama certain that it would take government pressure to bring Noriega down, Delvalle taped his ten-minute address the day before it was shown. U.S. Ambassador Arthur Davis assured the President that he and his family could count on American protection after the speech aired. The day of the broadcast, Delvalle sent his wife and three children to live in the U.S. embassy. He went back to his modest one-story home, which was protected by Panamanian troops.
Within 24 hours, Delvalle was under virtual house arrest. His phone lines were cut, and police appeared on the street when he lived. By Saturday morning an officer who arrived to tell Delvalle to leave the country found that he had fled. Later Delvalle claimed in a phone interview that he was still in Panama and vowed to fight on.
In Washington the Reagan Administration firmly backed the failed effort to oust Noriega. "We want to reiterate our unqualified support for civilian constitutional rule in Panama," said White House Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater. With 10,000 troops at U.S. Southern Command headquarters in Panama, Washington is sensitive to charges that it seeks to bully its neighbor. Yet Vice President George Bush talked tough while campaigning in South Carolina for the Republican presidential nomination. "We're not going to be pushed around about the defense of the Panama Canal," Bush said. "We will do whatever is necessary to protect American interests."
In recent weeks American servicemen have come under increased harassment from their Panamanian hosts as tensions have mounted between the two countries. Authorities last week detained a group of U.S. military police for two hours without explanation. U.S. troops later went on a low-profile alert, said to be standard procedure when demonstrations are under way or expected.
Other signs of tension appeared. Ricardo Arias Calderon, president of Panama's anti-Noriega Christian Democratic Party, was held for 45 minutes at the Panama City airport when he arrived from Miami after Delvalle's speech. Calderon and his wife were forced to reboard the plane and exiled to neighboring Costa Rica. "I refused to go," Calderon said, "and then they started shoving me and eventually had to carry me onto the plane." Three U.S. journalists were also returned to their plane and sent to Costa Rica. Panama's principal opposition newspaper, La Prensa, and a TV station owned by the Delvalle family were closed.