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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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Panama Denies U.S. Involvement In Four New
Anti-Drug Bases
PANAMA - The four aerial-maritime
anti-drug bases to be established on the
Pacific coast would be under full Panamanian
sovereignty and have no U.S. involvement, a
senior Panamanian official said Thursday.
The bases "will be purely Panamanian,"
Panama's Interior and Justice Minister Jose
Raul Mulino announced.
The Panamanian opposition has claimed that
these bases would be controlled by the
United States.
Mulino said that affirmation was baseless
because there would be neither U.S. troops
nor U.S. aid on those bases.
"These bases are 100 percent Panamanian, and
I will invite you to the establishment of
the first (base) to see if you can find any
'gringo' (U.S. citizen)," Mulino said.
According to Mulino, the establishment of
these bases was part of an initiative of
Panama's security forces, and the first base
would be established before Nov. 30.
With these bases, the Panamanian government
seeks to combat weapons and human
trafficking and to strengthen the fight
against Mexican and Colombian drug cartels,
which use Panama's coast to transport drugs
to the United States.
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