Pain of 1989 US Invasion remembered
The 28th anniversary of the US invasion of Panama was marked on Wednesday, December 20 with official ceremonies, demonstrations at the US Embassy, and a march from Chorillo to the National Assembly by relatives of the up to 5000 victims.
A common thread ran through all the events. A renewed call for December 20 to be declared a National Day of Grief and the need to clarify the events, especially the official number of Panamanians killed during the bombings which started at midnight,
The Union of Construction and Associated Workers (Suntracs) and the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (Frenadeso) held a picket in front of the United States Embassy in Clayton, which was guarded by a police cordon.
The Foreign Ministry paid a ‘tribute’ to the victims of the invasion whose remains are buried in the Garden of Peace. The official acts were led by the Chancellor and Vice president, Isabel de Saint Malo, and Security Minister, Alexis Bethancourt.
At the University of Panama, the December 20 Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ombudsman’s Office with the aim of “collaborating effectively” in the clarification of the facts and having ‘full knowledge’ of the number and identity of the victims.
The December 20 Commission was created by the Government and its main purpose is to achieve an official registry of the victims with figures ranging from 500 to 5000, Panamanian deaths, thousands injured and 20,000 losing their homes as Chorillo burned. There were 27 US military deaths.
The commission is working to identify the human remains found in mass graves and in custody of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences where they have begun the DNA analysis of the relatives that will be compared with those of the bone remains.
The commemoration ceremonies ended a march from El Chorrillo to the National Assembly.organized by relatives of the victims and various labor and student organizations
“The relatives still feel this pain, there is no December that people do not remember that disastrous invasion, even those who applauded it also talk about it,” said Trinidad Ayola, president of the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Fallen of December 20.
