US Hands Over Naval Base to Panama By KATHIA MARTINEZ .c The Associated Press PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) -- The United States formally handed over its Rodman naval base to Panama on Thursday, the first of five military bases to be turned over this year before the historic transfer of the Panama Canal. In a simple but colorful morning ceremony, a contingent of sailors in dress whites lined up before the base's main mast, where the U.S. and Panamanian colors were flying, and gently lowered the Stars and Stripes. Only the Panamanian flag was left fluttering over the base. ``This is full satisfaction, to see for the first time the Panamanian flag flying instead of the U.S. one,'' said Juan Samudio, who waved a huge Panamanian flag. Marine Sgt. Curtis Rivet, who spent three years at Rodman, said he felt ``a little sad'' that the base was being turned over. ``We like working here ... because besides being a beautiful place, there are wonderful people here,'' he said. Rodman naval base, built in 1917, is near the Balboa region, on the Pacific side of the canal. The 2,194-acre base was a center of U.S. military activity during World War II. As a band played the national anthems of both nations, U.S. Ambassador Simon Ferro presented a 30-inch symbolic key, made of hardwood and painted white, to the canal's top administrator and former Panamanian president, Nicolas Ardito Barletta. The U.S. military presence in Panama, dating back to the turn of the century, has been seen as a guarantee of the canal's defense. But it also has sparked debates and deadly clashes among Panamanians who opposed U.S. control of the canal. In a brief speech, Barletta said he hoped the year 2000 would ``begin a new relationship between friends.'' The United States originally had planned to turn the base over to Panama on April 30, but the date was moved up because preparations for vacating the installation concluded six weeks early. Rodman is the first of five military bases along the Panama Canal that the United States is relinquishing this year under a 1979 treaty signed by former President Carter that surrenders the entire waterway to Panama by Dec. 31. The others are Howard Air Force Base, Ft. Kobbe, Clayton Base, and Ft. Sherman, which housed around 10,000 U.S. service personnel at the start of the decade but now have less than 4,000.
