DATE=9/2/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PANAMA DRUG BASE (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253392
BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS
DATELINE=PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The new president of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, 
who was sworn in on Wednesday, has shown little 
enthusiasm for allowing the United States to maintain 
an anti-drug-smuggling operation in her country to 
fill the vacuum left by the departure of the US 
military from bases in the former canal zone.  As V-O-
A's Greg Flakus reports from Panama City, however, a 
small-scale operation may still be considered.

TEXT:  In her comments to reporters earlier this week, 
Mireya Moscoso denied having had any talks with U-S 
officials about maintaining a multilateral drug 
interdiction center in Panama.  She said that if such 
an agreement did come about, it would have to be 
approved by Panamanian voters in a referendum.

President Moscoso met briefly with U-S Attorney 
General Janet Reno Thursday but the matter did not 
come up in their discussion.  Before departing, Ms 
Reno, who was the official U-S representative at the 
inauguration on Wednesday, issued a statement that 
said only that the United States and Panama will 
maintain and deepen their cooperation on law 
enforcement issues.

But one top cabinet officer in the Moscoso government, 
Minister of Government and Justice Winston Spadafora, 
has indicated that there is, at least, some 
possibility of allowing a US operation in Panama to 
combat drug trafficking.  He has stressed, however, 
that there have been no negotiations yet and it is too 
early to speculate on what kind of facility might be 
developed.  U-S officials have also made clear that 
there will be no change in current plans for U-S 
military withdrawal from Panama.

People close to the new government, however, say that 
one idea that might be considered would be what the U-
S military refers to as a forward operating location, 
or F-O-L.  This would consist of an air strip 
maintained by no more than a dozen military personnel. 
They would dress in civilian clothes while off site 
and would stay in local hotels as opposed to living in 
permanent homes.  Flight crews and planes would be 
brought in from other sites for rotational tours of no 
more than two or three months.  

U-S officials have been exploring the possibility of 
establishing a F-O-L in some other part of Central 
America because they see the departure from bases in 
Panama as leaving a large gap in the effort to curtail 
drug trafficking in the region.

            /// REST OPTIONAL ///

Under the 1977 Panama Canal treaties all of the U-S 
bases are to be turned over to Panama by the end of 
this year and most, in fact, have already been turned 
over.  There are currently only a few hundred US 
military personnel left in Panama, mostly involved in 
administrative duties related to the transition.  

US officials failed in efforts to negotiate an 
agreement with the previous government of President 
Ernesto Perez Balladares to maintain a small US anti-
narcotics base in Panama.  The planes that once flew 
out of Panama bases to patrol for drug smugglers are 
now operating out of F-O-Ls established in Aruba, 
Curacao and Ecuador. (Signed)

NEB/GF/TVM/gm



02-Sep-1999 16:27 PM EDT (02-Sep-1999 2027 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.