and Panama, and which advocated a plan for pacification and the restoration of national
sovereignty in Central America as a whole through the interdiction of gun-running, plus
the removal of foreign advisers and bases. According to Briggs, Bush may have sought
Noriega's diplomatic support for the US position in the region. But Briggs denies that
Bush was also looking for Panamanian military support against the Sandinistas.
According to the Bushmen, Bush's pourparler in Panama was devoted to a "privileged"
talk with the President of Panama, Ricardo de la Espriella, who was also present at the
meeting. [fn 35] But Noriega was clearly the dominant figure on the Panamanian political
scene.
Later, Bush henchman Don Gregg was obliged to testify under oath about Bush's
relations with Noriega in the context of the civil lawsuit brought by the Christic Institute
of Washington, DC against members of the Bush-Shackley-Clines Enterprise. Gregg
specified that Ambassador Briggs was himself a friend of Bush. Gregg said that at the
December, 1983 meeting, Panamanian President Ricardo de la Espriella had denied US
press reports alleging Panamanian government complicity in drug trafficking.
But while Noriega kept close relations with the United States, he also dealt with Cuba
and other countries in the region. Noriega was increasingly motivated by Panamanian
nationalism, and a desire to preserve a margin of independence for his country. The
hostility of the US government against Noriega was occasioned first of all by Noriega's
refusal to be subservient to the US policy of waging war against the Sandinista regime.
This was explained by Noriega in an interview with CBS journalist Mike Wallace on
February 4, 1988, in which Noriega described the US campaign against him as a
"political conspiracy of the Department of Justice." Noriega described a visit to Panama
on December 17, 1985 by Admiral John Poindexter, then the chief of the US National
Security Council, who demanded that Noriega join in acts of war against Nicaragua, and
then threatened Panama with economic warfare and political destabilization when
Noriega refused to go along with Poindexter's plans:
Noriega: Poindexter said he came in the name of President Reagan. He said that Panama and
Mexico were acting against US policy in Central America because we were saying that the
Nicaragua conflict must be settled peacefully. And that wasn't good enough for the plans of the
Reagan administration. The single thing that will protect us from being economically and
politically attacked by the United States is that we allow the contras to be trained in Panama for
the fight against Nicaragua.Wallace: He told you that you would be economically attacked if you didn't do that?Noriega: It was stated, Panama must expect economic consequences. Your interest was that we
should aid the contras, and we said 'no' to that.Poindexter outlined plans for a US invasion of Nicaragua that would require the fig-leaf
of participation of troops from other countries in the region:
Noriega: Yes, they wanted to attack Nicaragua and the only reason it hadn't already happened was
that Panama was in the way, and all they wanted was that Panama would open the way and make
it possible for them to continue their plans.