Colombian Support for Reintegration of Panama in Rio Group Erika Harding

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3-25-1992 Colombian Support For Reintegration Of Panama In Rio Group Erika Harding

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Recommended Citation Harding, Erika. "Colombian Support For Reintegration Of Panama In Rio Group." (1992). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ notisur/8869

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiSur by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 062019 ISSN: 1060-4189 Colombian Support For Reintegration Of Panama In Rio Group by Erika Harding Category/Department: General Published: Wednesday, March 25, 1992

On March 12 at a press conference in Panama City, Colombian President Cesar Gaviria said he told Panamanian counterpart Guillermo Endara he would support Panama's "full" reintegration into the Rio Group. Rio Group member- nations are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Gaviria is the first South American president to visit Panama since the US invasion on Dec. 20, 1989. Gaviria said that the "traumatic form" in which Panama returned to democracy was the cause of the delay in normalizing relations between Panama and the rest of Latin America. The Rio Group of nations ejected Panama in 1988 following the overthrow of President Eric Delvalle by Gen. Manuel Noriega. According to Gaviria, "What has happened in the past two years has clearly demonstrated that democracy has been strengthened in Panama...Latin America should support that process of democratic consolidation in Panama." Gaviria and Endara signed an agreement expressing the desire for increased border cooperation and observation, with particular emphasis on trade relations and anti-drug efforts. Gaviria also offered to work toward establishing an electricity network linking the two countries with Venezuela, and which would then be extended to the rest of Central America and Mexico. Both leaders promised to reactivate a project to link the two halves of the Pan-American Highway through the "Tapon del Darian," a stretch of jungle shared by the two nations. (Sources: Agencia Centroamericana de Noticias- Spanish news service EFE, 03/12/92; Chinese news service Xinhua, 03/12/92)

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