Panama remembers invasion victims

OFFICIAL  events to remember the victims of the US invasion of Panama, 27 years ago began at 7.30 am on Tuesday Dec. 20 in the Garden of Peace where a mass grave of victims was uncovered.

The events were led acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Luisa Navarro, representing the government of President Juan Carlos Varela  on the Day of National Reflection.

Relatives of the victims,   reiterated their  annual request that Dec. 20 be declared a day of national mourning, Members of the Comisión del 20 de diciembre de 1989 were also present.

December 20, 1989 will go down in history as the most painful day for the country, although  it is not marked  as a day of national mourning. Said  professor and Panama historian Rommel Escarreola.

Speaking on TVN 2 he said the colossus of the north called the military operation “Just Cause”, a contradictory name so far for those who have been demanding for 27 years of all governments that the date be remembered with regret.

He said that everything is due to a lack of commitment on the part of the authorities. “They want to be  in well with the United States to receive help or some benefit.

“27 years later, the wound left by the military dictatorship that began on October 11, 1968 and ended on December 20, 1989, is not closed in its entirety.

“There are still many things to tell, including the thousands of victims of the ivasion  for whom there is no clear figure.”

Speaking to AM News, Juan Planells, a member of the December 20 Commission, which  will be in charge of investigating the US invasion of Panama in 1989, said that it will not be an easy job to investigate the events that occurred on that date.

Planells pointed out that there was no justification for invading Panama and causing so many deaths.

Professor Escarreola, said  there was no need for such a military deployment if what was wanted was to capture the ex-dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.

“Noriega was not the only objective, they (the United States) wanted to destroy the Panama Defense Forces … They wanted them outside the Panamanian political system,” he said

The Ombudsman’s Office  issued a statement supporting the call for the declaration of a day of mourning..

“The silence, impunity and forgetfulness that have been woven around these events are a flagrant violation of the individual and collective right to the truth.”

They recalled  that the Americans had 26,000 soldiers from elite units, naval commandos, the army and the 82nd Airborne Division for the invasion, while the Panamanian Defense Forces had  only 12,000 troops and a small air force.

It was also a day that firefighters were banned from putting out fires