The OAS and the Panama crisis - Organization of American States, Lawrence S. Eagleburger statement - transcript

US Department of State Bulletin, Nov, 1989

The OAS and the Panama Crisis

Following are a statement by Acting Secretary Lawrence S. Eagleburger before a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of American States (OAS) on August 24, 1989, a declaration by the president of that meeting in consultation, and second statement by Acting Secretary Eagleburger at a special session of the OAS Permanent Council on August 31.

ACTING SECRETARY EAGLEBURGER'S STATEMENT, AUG. 24, 1989(1)

Our first meeting on the crisis in Panama was held on May 17. Since that time, three member states of this organization have changed governments through democratic processes--El Salvador, Argentina, and Bolivia. In every case, one political party yielded power peacefully to another. Today we welcome the new Deputy Foreign Minister of Bolivia, just as in previous meetings we welcomed the new Foreign Ministers of Argentina and El Salvador.

Their presence among us is vivid witness to a powerful force that is in the process of transforming our planet. In the Philippines, in Poland, in Hungary, to name but three countries, the forces of democracy are on the march. Ours is a remarkable, a creative time--a time when people who for too long suffered the degradation of totalitarianism, took back into their own hands the right to determine their own future. Those who stand in the way of that process are on the wrong side of history and, in the end, will find themselves, as all dictators eventually have, in the garbage can of history.

Pioneers of Democracy

In many ways, the turn toward democracy that characterizes our era began in this hemisphere. In recent years, nation after nation has decided to follow the democratic path. Together, here in the Americas, we are building the world's first democratic hemisphere. And the leaders of the governments that many of you represent are the pioneers in that historic journey.

The people of Panama also have begun that historic journey toward democracy. They spoke clearly on May 7 of this year. They voted for national dignity. They voted to end a brutal dictatorship. They voted to be free. They have a right to be free. No one has a right to deny that freedom.

Nevertheless that vote for democracy was met with [Gen. Manuel Antonio] Noriega's iron pipes and rifle butts, hired mobs and prison cells. The whole world denounced the violation of human rights which we witnessed in Panama and so did this Organization of American States. Indeed, the images of courage and the images of blood from that historic week in Panama will always be etched in our memory.

The people of Panama called out for our help, and the OAS sought to respond to their plea. We convened an emergency session to defend the principles of our charter and the human rights of the people of Panama. The question before us was never our commitment to Panamanian sovereignty, nor is it today. For the sovereign will of the Panamanian people is what we are here defending. The question before us was never our commitment to the Panama Canal Treaties. For we reaffirmed our commitment to uphold those historic treaties on the first day we met.

And let us be clear about one thing, if nothing else. Noriega did not steal the May 7 election because of "sanctions" or the legitimate exercise of treaty rights. He stole the election because he lost it, and attempts to shift the focus from that overwhelming fact is nothing more nor less than deliberate obfuscation.

The OAS Mandate

The question before us remains what we declared it to be in our first resolution. It is, and I quote: "The grave events and the abuses by General Manuel Antonio Noriega in the crisis and the electoral process in Panama." We recognized then, as we did today, that the grave abuses of Gen. Noriega's dictatorship threaten the peace of our hemisphere and violate the charter of this organization. That is why we dispatched a mission to Panama. Our distinguished Secretary General and the distinguished Foreign Ministers of Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ecuador spent countless hours in Panama working with the parties trying to achieve a transfer of power by September 1 as called for in their mandate.

They worked hard, and they made a difference. The United States has supported the work of the commission at every step of the way. Their efforts and commitment deserve all of our respect and gratitude. The commission brought the parties together for face-to-face negotiations. Together, they spelled out a serious agenda. At the last meeting, the parties laid out the elements that would permit a resolution to the crisis:

* The departure of Gen. Noriega from power;

* Formation of a transition government of September 1;

* New, free elections within the shortest possible time; and

* The lifting of measures taken by the United States in response to the crisis in Panama.

All rational Panamanians agree that this formula could resolve the crisis and establish democracy. The United States has always been prepared to do its part. We want to see the crisis end. Nothing would please my government or the American people more than to end the measures currently in place and reestablish normal relations with a democratic Panama.