U.S. Sends Additional Troops to Panama

PANAMA CITY, Panama--The first of an extra 1300 U.S. troops arrived yesterday to increase security for American soldiers and citizens during Panama's political and economic crisis.

A C-141 Starlifter carrying the first contingent of soldiers from Fort Bragg, N.C. landed at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. EDT) at Howard Air Base outside Panama City. Nearly 50 flights are expected by the time deployment is finished Friday.

Reinforcements and a squadron of 26 helicopters are intended by the Reagan Administration as a signal to Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, the de facto ruler Washington has been urging to step down.

The buildup, ordered last week to counter what the Pentagon called Noriega's "heavy-handed tactics," will raise U.S. troop strength along the 50-mile-long Panama Canal to 11,800 officers and men. Noriega commands the 15,000 member Defense Forces.

The reinforcements were sent after reports that U.S. citizens were harassed by Panamanian soldiers and the brief arrests of several American reporters during a police raid on opposition headquarters in a Panama City hotel.

Panama has repeatedly accused the Reagan Administration of preparing to invade.

The first flight was from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. Officials said they expected at least one heavy cargo plane each hour from Pope and Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

A statement from the office of Panama's Roman Catholic archbishop, Marcus Gregorio McGrath, said the government told him it would hold discussions with the opposition, mediated by McGrath.

McGrath was asked to mediate by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez of Spain and former Presidents Daniel Oduber of Costa Rica and Carlos Andres Perez of Venezuela.

The civilian government, which Noriega controls, has accused McGrath of siding with the opposition. State-run newspapers have called the archbishop, who was born in Philadelphia, a "tool of the Yankees."

Police halted two opposition demonstrations before they started yesterday, sealing off the site of one and appearing in force at a park where another was to take place.

The U.S. national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Colin L. Powell, said yesterday in Santa Barbara, Calif that the U.S. had no plans to send more forces to Panama but "would not eliminate that possibility."

U.S. sanctions imposed in February have produced the gravest economic crisis in the history of Panama, which uses the U.S. dollar as its currency. Banks closed more than a month ago, and the government has been unable to pay its employees.

Yesterday's editions of government newspapers carried a statement from Panama's Health Ministry ridiculing the new American troops and calling them potential AIDS carriers.

It said tests by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta showed U.S. military personnel have a "high rate" of infection with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus.

"Knowing their clinical history, we can do no less than exhort our population to abstain from having any intimate contact with these soldiers," the statement said.

A spokesman from the Centers for Disease Control said it does not test military personnel. The Defense Department began doing so in 1985, and reported these figures Sept. 30, at the end of the 1987 fiscal year: 5890 tests positive in a total of 3.96 million, including 3336 positive among 2.18 million on active duty.

The U.S. Southern Command, with its headquarters near Panama City, had about 600 security people among its 10,000 personnel before the Reagan Administration stepped up its campaign to oust Noriega early last month.

In mid-March, the Pentagon sent 670 more security personnel to Panama to help protect military facilities.

The primary task of all U.S. personnel in Panama is to safeguard the canal until it is handed over by treaty to the Panamanian government Dec. 31, 1999.

About 13,000 military dependents also live in Panama, along with 1300 U.S. employees of the Panama Canal Commission and their 2600 dependants.

On Monday night, Panamanian security agents surrounded the home of Ricardo Arias Calderon, president of the Christian Democratic Party and one of Noriega's chief opponents. They remained there yesterday.