'The Americans are running the show'

Scan page 17

LOUT ANANA Gen. Maxwell "Mad Max" Thurman, who heads the U.S. occupation of Panama, has come under heavy criticism for the conduct of his troops. In addition, the "Maxatollah" thumbed his nose at the Panamanian constitution, which forbids the extradiction of citizens (including Gen. Noriega) to foreign countries. The U.S. Army did not come to Panama to obey other people's laws, Thurman told reporters.

... Panama (continued from page 1: “U.S. hides real reasons for invasion of Panama”)

ently based on a very small (four paragraph) report in the New York Times on Dec. 16 which was hardly noted by anyone until after the assault on Panama began. The actual reference to the alleged declaration is entirely restricted to a single paragraph in this brief report. It reads:

"Ramon Ashby, an assembly member, said General Noriega, Panama's de-facto ruler, was expected to be given formal powers because of Washington's policy of aggression toward Panama. 'In a state of war, like we are in, a product of Yankee aggression, authority has to be consolidated,' he said."

This paragraph was all the foundation there was to the spurious report of a Panamanian "declaration of war."

Trumped-up case for war Neither can anyone take seriously the justification for the attack on Panama based on the killing of the marine and abuse to a Naval officer and his wife. This same U.S. capitalist government refuses to take meaningful action when nuns, including American nuns, and priests—not to mention workers, peasants, and other political opponents of the Salvadoran dictatorship—are systematically murdered by the "democratic" Cristiani government of El Salvador.

Very few serious people can swallow the trumped-up case for war on Panama. In the Dec. 25 San Francisco Chronicle, for instance, columnist Richard Reeves blasts the "made-up history and pseudo facts pouring out of the White House" to justify the invasion.

"I was there, in Panama City when the Thurman was responsible for blaring non-stop rock music at the Vatican Embassy.

Noriega and the Vatican officials were treated to such golden oldies as "Nowhere to Hide" and "I Fought the Law and the Law Won."

"The Americans are running the show," a wealthy Panamanian businessmen recently told the press. "It is starting to dawn on us that, really and truly, Panama has been conquered by a foreign power." Indeed, U.S. troops routinely enter and search buildings, stop vehicles on the streets, make arbitrary arrests, and even open fire without warning passersby.

Students in China in recent weeks have flaunted martial-law regulations in order to hold political meetings and rallies. At the same time, illegal posters went up in two universities commenting on the uprising in Romania. One poster said, "Learn from Romania."

The Vatican is hiring extra exorcists. Six additional exorcists have been put on the Church payroll in Turin. With an estimated 40,000 Devil worshipers, Turin is considered to be Italy's most diabolic city. In Rome, the number of exorcists has also been increased from one to five.

The Devil has never busier, says the Church's chief Joseph Ryan/Socialist Action been expert on demonology, Monsignor Corrado Balducci. "To deny his existence is to do the work of the Devil himself," the Monsignor warns. Balducci has written a bestselling book, "The Devil Exists— You Can Recognize Him," a stepby-step procedure for deciding whether a person has been taken over by the Devil.

Why can't the United States produce an AIDS vaccine? One reason might be that at least 20 percent of scientists in this country are employed in projects of the Defense Department.

Through its invasion of Panama, U.S. imperialism was able to send an ominous signal to the Stalinist regimes that "What we do, You can also do."

Time magazine explains this connection in its Jan. 1, 1990, issue:

"The Soviet Union denounced the invasion as a violation of international law but hastily added that it saw no reason why that should damage East-West relations. The unspoken message seemed to be that Moscow would recognize a sphere of influence in which the United States could operate with a free hand so long as Washington returned the favor."

This unspoken message comes at a time when the world's Stalinist regimes-with the infamous exception of those in China and Romania-have been able to show restraint in the use of military repressive force. But the relatively peaceful revolution thus far in this part of the world has little to do with any more moderate nature of these regimes.

The Gorbachevs and Jaruzelskis of Eastern Europe can be expected to again resort to the kind of brutal repression they have exercised in the past when the use of guile runs its course and gives way to the need for naked force.

American imperialists know that while the Gorbachevs and Jaruzelskis have been able to maintain their basic hold on power in this period of democratic reforms, this will not be so easy further along.

They know that these bureaucratic governments will feel compelled to use force when workers are galvanized to defend their economic gains. They know they are in for a fight when "market socialism" drives up the prices of basic necessities and closes down the jobs of millions of workers.

The decision to opt for military repression in Panama should be seen as a signal to the Stalinist bureaucrats that imperialism will sanction a similar Stalinist resort to tanks,