Manuel Noreiga, To the Panamanians what is Panama’s, 1989

Following the death of Omar Torrijos in 1981, General Manuel Noreiga established himself as the dominant figure in the Panamanian military and government. The United States initially accepted his connections to the narcotics trade and his manipulation of elections, but changed course in the late 1980s. In this speech Noriega responded.

First, a word of praise and thanks to the just and merciful God of the universe, as Jehovah, as Allah, as Yahweh, as Buddha, as the universal conscience of the cathedral of the soul. To him, to that God of the rich and poor, whites and blacks, we ask his presence here and now, so that all of us Panamanians will know that we have to overcome our differences…

The extermination strategy that the North American government has been carrying out against Panama for more than 30 months has resulted in the unpostponable need to review our policy to continue the patriotic resistance and advance along the path of our national liberation. They have launched psychological attacks and have carried out a plan to poison minds by inventing all sorts of lies and trying by every means to win the minds of the weakest. However, the wise people did not believe the lies, and we are constantly receiving expressions of solidarity. We are being politically attacked with all the power of the communications media and its thousands of forms of blackmail. They have pressured some governments of the region to openly disregard the people. However, they have crashed into the unyielding determination or the oppressed majorities of Latin America who continue to support the martyrs of January [1964]. They have caused serious damage to our economy, our public finances, and the government’s capability to respond to demands for health, housing, and education. Their attack has resulted in thousands of unemployed and noticeable increase in our country’s poverty levels. However, they have crashed into the iron will of a people…

On 8 April 1988, the president of the United States invoked the powers of war against Panama… Since that day the U.S. machinery, through constant psychological and military harassment, has created a state of war in Panama. It has, on a daily basis, violated our sovereignty and territorial integrity. They have violated the Torrijos-Carter treaties in every possible way. They and their internal allies have conspired to destroy our country’s peace and stability. They have interfered and intervened in our domestic affairs and the Armed Forces have tried to bribe the weaker persons to betray the homeland.

We have resisted, and now we must decide to advance in our plan to strengthen our internal front to improve our resistance and advance towards an offensive of creativity and development in the generational project of the new republic. The need for a common front to respond to the aggression and the urgent need to organize ourselves as one to fight against the aggressor forces the people’s government to take this step. This step is nothing more than responsibly accepting, as a Panamanian and a patriot, the leadership of the forces that oppose U.S. aggression and seek to consolidate the nation as a state.

From this podium, we urge all organizations that feel committed to protecting national sovereignty— including political parties, churches, and popular and business organizations —to search for the solutions to our problem and not accept solutions that come from abroad, solutions based on foreign interests, to problems that only Panamanians must solve. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, to God what is God’s, and to the Panamanians what is Panama’s…

...The empire is wrong to claim that Panama is the premier maritime power because of its flag. We have been, are, and will continue to be a maritime power because the only thing that the U.S. empire will not be able to steal from us is our geographical position as the bridge of the world and heart of the universe. The only thing that the U.S. empire will not be able to steal from us is our geographical position as bridge of the world and heart of the universe across which all world flags must transit. We would not use the canal as an ideological or personal tool to favor conflicting interests. We do not justify the excessive U.S. military fighting strength under the sophism of defending the canal from being destroyed. We, the Panamanians, are the sole and ultimate canal custodians…

We, the Panamanians, will sit along the banks of the canal to watch the dead bodies of our enemies pass by, but we would never destroy the canal. Panama’s situation is different from that of the rest of Latin America.

They do not have a canal with Yankees sitting on its banks. They do not know about any psychological aggression or mental poisoning. They do not know about any military or economic aggressions. Therefore, we call on all the governments and armed forces of the hemisphere to look at Panama’s reality, which will lead them with international honesty to consult and discuss with us the concepts of strategic defense and development. This is something that responsible units in charge of the continent’s defense must do.

Panama cannot place its right to a sovereign and professional armed forces in the hands of foreign forces, foreign to the sociopolitical reality of this region where we are located and where we live, our habitat. Today, when the United States has taken the liberty of imposing a canal administrator, thus once again violating the treaties signed by its President Carter, it is only confirming what we have been saying for some time. We said it in 1982, we repeated it in 1983, and we confirmed it in 1984: The treaties among the states must be respected. These are treaties between states, not between men; they are historic agreements. Otherwise, tomorrow, and following the same lines, the Tlatelolco Treaty and the recent Malta agreements between Russia and the United states will be violated. Many countries are exchanging kisses and hugs with the empire today. I would like to offer a Peronist thought in my own words: The United States promotes unity when it is to its own advantage; it confronts others when it is in its best interests; and it takes advantage of the unity and confrontation every time it wants to…

Because Panama demands it, because many are tired of resisting and not advancing, because the generation of the year 2000 demands it, because of all this, the relay team carrying the torch of the generations that fought in 1925, 1947, 1959, 1964, 1977 say together with us: We are present…

I will not fail the Armed Forms, the people’s power, or Panama. The events and circumstances that, I repeat, I did not ask for, and that I did not seek, impose on me this sacred duty. I will use the powers you bestow on me wisely, with Christianity, in the name of Panama. I will use these powers only to defend Panama…

I will report on my actions to the representatives of the Panamanian people, you. With you I will win work for Panama. I will try to comply with the awareness of giving and with the conviction of conquering.

I have spoken, bearing in mind all of your messages, conversations, criticisms, letters, and telegrams… we have spoken with the historic clarity called for by the moment. For the sake of Bayano, Prestan, Victoriano, Ascanio Arosemena, Omar Torrijos, and the people of Bocas del Toro, Cocle, Colon, Chiriqui, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, east and west Panama, Veraguas, Kuna-Yala Indians, Embera Indians, Teribe Indians, and Guaymi Indians, we must all forge ahead… and have an offensive strategy to build our country, which many years ago decided to be free and sovereign and have only one territory and only one flag.

Manuel Noriega, “Speech before the National Assembly, December 15, 1989,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service, LAT-89-21. Transcription by Benjamin P. Taffet.