. NEWS . INTERNATIONAL . SPORT . CULTURAL . This WEEK . FROM OUR MAILBAG .OUR AMERICA . ARTS IN THE WORLD . MORE INFORMATION ON THE SOUTH SUMMIT August 17, 2000 UNITED STATES PROPOSES AGREEMENT WITH PANAMA Inoffensive visitors? BY SONIA SANCHEZ (Granma International staff writer) APPARENTLY to avoid losing ground in its hegemony over the area and to prevent Panama from taking any independent course, the United States has proposed an agreement with Mireya Moscoso's government concerning "visiting forces", those which, it seems, could be stationed in the disputed Canal Zone. Definitely suspicious. So much so that the Panamanian head of state hastened to declare it out of context at a time when the country's domestic agenda is complicated by discontent over the minimum wage and other thorny issues. The initiative, described by political observers as being ambiguous and diffuse, can be simply summed up as excluding U.S. troops from requiring passports or permission from the Panamanian government in order to move through the zone, from which they had to withdraw every one of their soldiers in December 1999, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The proposal would also permit U.S. troops to carry arms in case of need, and to import, export and establish their own transportation and communications logistics. And furthermore, they would not have to stand trial in any Panamanian court and would be exempt from all national customs, immigration and taxation procedures. The intentions of those forces, by any reckoning, are not as inoffensive as Washington is portraying them. Experts have already raised many questions such as the possibility of U.S. forces undertaking military training exercises and or even combat operations, of particular concern given the legacy of toxic material and unexploded mines and bombs left behind after the Canal was handed over to the Panamanian authorities. According to statistics published on the Internet by the Latin American Program, part of the U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation organization, more than 120,000 unexploded devices were left behind, which have already led to the death of 21 Panamanians in the controversial deep-water zone. On the other hand, perhaps the Panamanian authorities have decided that signing that agreement-a flagrant violation of the Panama Canal's neutrality and the country's sovereignty-would also complicate its foreign policy by bringing it into the conflict between Washington and Colombia over drug trafficking. A report from the Xinhua Chinese news agency notes that the "visiting forces" treaty also includes presenting the isthmus with a modest sum of money from the significant amount destined to funding military actions on Colombian soil. . NEWS . INTERNATIONAL . SPORT . CULTURAL . This WEEK . FROM OUR MAILBAG . OUR AMERICA . ARTS IN THE WORLD . MORE INFORMATION ON THE SOUTH SUMMIT Javier Sotomayor | Documentos | Revistas | Correo-E | Ingl�s | Franc�s | Portugu�s | Alem�n | Italiano � Copyright. 1996-2000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. GRANMA INTERNATIONAL/ ONLINE EDITION
