Washington cries uncle:

...For example, while law bars the companies from paying income taxes, they legally can cash Panamanian government checks for the amount of taxes owed and then put the checks aside...

...The Panamanian opposition dismisses Noriega's allegations as "pure demagoguery...

...Archbishop McGrath served for a time as a mediator between the government and the opposition, but Noriega undermined the talks by refusing to participate himself, leaving the door open for him to repudiate any eventual accord...

...The U.S...

...companies is to continue operating as normally as possible, even where that means skirting the spirit, if not the letter, of the sanctions...

...Embassy projects that Panama's Gross National Product will drop 10 percent to 15 percent in 1988, while a classified Panamanian government document predicts the decline will be as high as 20 percent...

...The Panamanian people were prepared to make certain sacrifices to overthrow what is perceived as a corrupt and morally bankrupt regime...

...Unarmed, the demonstrators' sole weapons were the white handkerchiefs they waved as a sign of their peaceful intentions...

...economic sanctions announced in March 1988 to quickly topple the Noriega regime...

...Diplomats see two hopeful signs: the likelihood of a political confrontation between the government and the labor unions over mass firings of government workers, and Noriega's formation of a special "Strategic Military Council" composed of younger majors and captains, indicating, they claim, that Noriega no longer fully enjoys the support of the General Staff of older, more experienced officers...

...Alternatively, and more likely, the U.S...

...A series of massive demonstrations organized by the Cruzada Civilista (Civilian Crusade)-a loose coalition of civic, business, and professional groups- were violently dispersed by the National Guard...

...Any inference that the U.S...

...But Noriega's troops unleashed tear gas and attack dogs to break up the crowds...

...and then the first thing they do is to run to the U.S...

...Nevertheless, the Canal Treaties are considered the cornerstone of Panama's nationalistic "revolution," which began when Gen...

...officials, however, seem disappointed the Crusade did not mount increased resistance...

...We don't accept the fact that you have to destroy the economy of the country to destroy Noriega," says Luis Alberto Prescott, Secretary-General of the university workers' union...

...Several foreign correspondents have been expelled...

...Demonstrators were beaten and arrested en masse...

...will not honor the treaties has enormous political resonance...

...According to Boyd, a member of the Crusade's steering committee, Noriega's troops "raped some of the women and sexually abused even the men...

...Several major U.S...

...It recently adopted an exemption allowing both the Canal administration and American businesses to make social security payments to the government for their Panamanian employees...

...The government has shut down the antigovernment media, revoking the broadcast licenses of opposition T.V...

...The contracts that permit the U.S...

...stations...

...The Noriega government has been forced to embark on a program of massive layoffs in the public sector, but has been met with strong political opposition from the unions that had been the backbone of the regime's support...

...military to maintain key bases in Panama, including the headquarters of the Southern Command, are also up for renegotiation in the year 2000...

...Whatever Noriega's success in manipulating anti-American sentiment, he could not have managed to survive without resorting to repression...

...Noriega is hardly a popular dictator.' 'If there were such a thing as an unbiased poll in Panama, the (Noriega) government would have trouble getting 25 percent," says one foreign diplomat stationed in this steamy tropical capital...

...American officials expected the U.S...

...These are the people who denounce the U.S...

...executive who asked not to be identified...

...This more cautious stance is probably the result of the fact that a high percentage of Panama's priests are foreign, and thus vulnerable to government expulsion...

...He has done so by employing a mixture of selective repression and clever manipulation of anti-American sentiment...

...Omar Torrijos came to power in a 1968 military coup...

...Noriega contends that the U.S., in trying to oust him, wants to install a more pro-American regime in order to avoid relinquishing control of the Panama Canal in the year 2000...

...They raped daughters in front of their parents...

...banks have shut down their Panamanian operations, while others have announced that they will move their operations elsewhere...

...This caused a tremendous fear in the population...

...The sanctions have caused a deep recession...

...But as time wears on and the sanctions fail to achieve their intended effect, resentment toward the United States grows...

...Resentment of the sanctions has been fanned by the government-controlled media, which have variously described the sanctions as "imperialist aggression" or "acts of war" against the Panamanian people...

...policy after a year of unsuccessful efforts to oust Noriega and bring democracy to Panama...

...The Noriega regime was threatening to cut off these employees' access to a government health-care system if the taxes continued to be withheld...

...could try to jack up the pressure on Noriega, but political observers here don't believe that will necessarily work unless the U.S...

...Recall Assistant Secretary of State Elliot Abrams's now infamous pronouncement that Noriega would be leaving Panama within a matter of days...

...On the wall of the government press office there hangs a cartoon showing a bust of Noriega carved into Mount Rushmore...

...The Crusade had been able to mobilize thousands to turn out and protest...

...will simply allow the Noriega regime to simmer slowly in its own problems, hoping that the economic disfunctions generated by the sanctions, when combined with ongoing repression and corruption, will cause the kettle to boil over...

...for vacation or to go shopping," says opposition member Fernando Boyd...

...I think we made the right decision," he adds...

...The Panamanian Journalists Association last month urged the government to refuse to allow foreign correspondents, particularly Americans, to enter the country because of their "distorted" reporting of local events...

...pay reparations to Panama for the damage done to the economy...

...Some leftist groups that support Noriega are even demanding that the U.S...

...The sanctions were never very popular with the American business community in Panama, according to one U.S...

...The Catholic church has supported the Crusade, at first calling for an impartial investigation into the charges against Noriega and then for his resignation...

...We couldn't fight guns with stones, and a decision was made to conserve human life," said Boyd...

...was applauded by the opposition as a measure which directly harms Noriega's cronies without hurting the rest of the Panamanian population as well...

...The Reagan administration's latest action in denying Noriega and his close associates entry visas to the U.S...

...is prepared to take the ultimate step of military intervention (or at least can convince Noriega of its readiness to do so...

...But once it became clear Noriega was prepared to use lethal force, the Crusade stopped calling for demonstrations...

...The prisoners were released and then went back home and told their friends about what had happened to them...

...Government workers continue to have difficulty cashing their paychecks and may be forced to pay as much as 30 percent of their salaries as a commission to the loan sharks or drug financiers who've set up ad hoc check-cashing operations...

...What are the alternatives for U.S...

...The church has issued public statements in favor of democracy and condemning both human-rights abuses and appeals to a "false nationalism"-a not-so-veiled reference to Noriega's efforts to whip up anti-American sentiment...

...Panamanians, however, believe that Noriega has made so many enemies during his years in power, including members of the powerful Medellin drug-trafficking cartel, that he will never voluntarily leave the country for fear he will be killed...

...Yet despite his apparent unpopularity, Noriega has managed to survive a series of mass demonstrations against his regime, an indictment on drug trafficking charges by a Florida grand jury, a two-week general strike, and harsh economic sanctions that have caused a deep recession in the Panamanian economy...

...The U.S...

...The objective of many U.S...

...Nevertheless, the Panamanian church has riot taken as aggressive a role as did the Salvadoran under Archbishop Romero...

...While they were generally detained for short periods of time ranging from several hours to four days, demonstrators were reportedly beaten, sexually assaulted, or otherwise mistreated while in jail...

...Those American reporters who reside in the country must be cautious about what they publish for fear their work permits will be denied or revoked...

...In the meantime, the General is clearly relishing his ability to make the Colossus of the North look impotent...

...adopted tough economic sanctions against the Panamanian regime, Gen, Manuel Antonio Noriega continues to cling to power...

...LINDA DRUCKER...

...The Reagan administration has had to backtrack on some of the sanctions which were causing undue hardship for American businessmen and innocent Panamanians...