U.S. Expands Pressures on Gen. Noriega
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WASHINGTON — The United States said today it has expanded economic sanctions against Panama in an effort to force strongman Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega out of office.
State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said the measures included withdrawing Panama’s 1989 sugar quota and widening the list of Panamanian companies and individuals associated with Noriega to whom Americans will be barred from making payments.
The United States first imposed sanctions against Panama last year but so far they have failed to budge Noriega, who is under U.S. indictment on charges of illegal drug trafficking.
“All of these actions are a direct result of Gen. Noriega’s continued unwillingness to respect the will of the Panamanian people by stepping down and permitting the installation of a freely elected government,” Tutwiler said.
Tutwiler said Panama’s 1989 sugar quota of 30,537 metric tons has been reallocated to other countries, which she did not name.
The loss of the sugar quota denies the Panamanian government close to $15 million in revenue, she said.
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