Panama Ex President Asked US for Coup Attack
A declassified United States document reveals that Panama s ex President Guillermo Endara asked the United States to invade the Isthmus in 1989, an action that caused the deaths of hundreds of Panamanians, Panama America daily made public on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, citing the US government document, Endara requested the aggression from the Pentagon in order to overthrow then Gen. Manuel Noriega.

Menalco Solis, the ex president s political advisor, denied the story.

Endara assumed the presidency of Panama at a US military base on the banks of the Canal, hours before the invasion, the daily recalled.

According to the US document, the attack on this nation was not a war between two states, thus Washington did not have to fulfil the responsibilities in the Geneva Accords.

That treaty obliges the conflicting sides to respect the lives of civilians, not to attack the wounded or prisoners, not to outrage personal dignity, to enforce sentences only as ordered by a legal court, and allow intervention of the Red Cross.

The US text declares that it was a clash between the legitimate government, headed by Endara, and an insurgent group, headed by Noriega, that was removed with the help of the United States

However, the daily said the White House maintained diplomatic relations with Panama during Noriega's seven years in power.

Attorney Julio Berrios is of the opinion the report is nothing more than a Washington strategy to avoid its responsibility for the aggression.