Stephen Von Sychowski
Communist Party of Canada, Prince George Collective
On December 19th , 1989 the United States secretly mobilized 2,600 troops for a midnight attack on the country of Panama. The official story put forth by the U.S. government and the corporate media was that the purpose of the invasion was to "restore democracy to Panama," this "democracy" had never existed in Panama to begin with, it had not seen democratic rule since it's creation in 1903. The true motive for the invasion was American dominance of Panama.
At the time of the invasion, Panama was under the rule of General Manuel Noriega, the head of the Panamanian military, and a notorious drug trafficer. Noriega had been on the CIA payroll since the 1960's, he had helped the CIA out with trafficing weapons. He had become leader of the military in 1983. But when he hosted peace talks with other Latin American leaders and called for an end to United States intervention in Latin America, he had gone too far. The Raegan administration called for his removal, Panama was heavily sanctioned and more U.S. troops were sent to Panama.
The U.S. troops hastled the Panamanians to no end, inciting anger in the populace. The the U.S. government sent in even more troops to "protect American life." At midnight the attack on Panama, code named "Operation Just Cause" was launched. U.S. military attacked 27 targets, mostly in densely populated areas. The biggest target was the Panamanian defence forces base, which was shelled for four hours before U.S. troops finally moved in. "We request your surrender, if you do not we are prepared to level each and every building," a commanding U.S. officer warned.
The truth was, however, that they planned to level each building regardless. The surrounding residential areas were deliberately attacked and destroyed. U.S. troops burned houses one by one, till whole streets and towns were burned to the ground, in very much the style used in the Vietnam war. There were numerous accounts of indiscriminate executions of unarmed civilians. About 18,000 Panamanians were caught fleeing the attacks and placed in detention centers. Unionists, progressives and cultural leaders were especially targeted.
The United States tried to cover the massacres up, bodies were bulldozed into piles and immolated. Many other bodies were burried in mass graves, left in garbage chutes, or pushed into the ocean according to eyewitness accounts. Many mass graves were found in Panama after the war. Several victims in these mass graves were found with their hands tied behind their back, they had been killed by a bullet to the back of the head.
The mainstream media in the west focussed on the few American lives that were lost in the war with little or not mention of the numerous Panamanian losses. It focussed heavily on tactical points and the efficiency of the invasion, laced with propaganda about how the U.S. was "fighting for democracy and freedom."
The sad reality is that approximately 12,000 Panamanians lost their homes, and an unknown number lost their lives or were wounded or crippled by the attacks. Since the number killed was so heavily covered up by the U.S. military it is difficult to know exactly how many were murdered. But based on eyewitness accounts it must be in thousands. The invasion of Panama violated the U.N. charter, the Q.E.S. charter and the Geneva convention which all prohibit attacks on civilians as a method of warfare. The United Nations condemned the attack as "A flagrant violation of international law."
And where is the promised democracy for Panama? The government of Panama was replaced with yet another un-democratic leadership, it was elected by United States government with no consultation of the Panamanian people. This new leader was a puppet of the United States plutocracy. In March 1991 the U.S. appointed President, Guillerno Endara, passed a change to the constitution of Panama to abolish the Panamanian military forever. The U.S. quickly moved in and renegotiated the Panama Canal treaties and insured U.S. military presence in Panama under the excuse that Panama could no longer protect the canal. Although Panama now operates a "democracy" or so the Unites States would claim, it was not as a result of the Panama invasion. Panama remains a country who's government runs in complacency with the demands of the United States government, for those nations who dare stray may be the next in line for a Panamassacre.