Panama exhumes 19 bodies in search for dead from U.S. invasion of 1989

Record ID: 1558181

  • Title: Panama exhumes 19 bodies in search for dead from U.S. invasion of 1989
  • Date: 21st June 2020
  • Summary: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (JUNE 17, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF RELATIVES OF THE FALLEN, TRINIDAD AYOLA, SAYING: "We have been working hard for 30 years making all the efforts so that they can find inner peace because we know this pain. We know the pain of having someone, a family member, missing and we are doing everything possible. Perhaps not everyone has the opportunity to know the whereabouts [of their loved one]."
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2020 14:50
  • Keywords: Manuel Noriega Panama U.S excavations invasion victims
  • Location: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
  • City: PANAMA CITY, PANAMA
  • Country: Panama
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA002CJBASZR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Panamanian authorities this week finalised the exhumation of 19 bodies in a private cemetery in Panama City as part of a search for victims of the 1989 invasion by the United States, Panamanian judicial authorities said.
    The bodies were exhumed from the Jardín de Paz cemetery in the capital, where they were buried 30 years ago after initially being dumped in mass graves during the December 1989 to January 1990 invasion. Some bodies remain unidentified.
    The corpses were dug up at a site holding about 100 graves of those died during the U.S. military operation that led to the deaths of at least 500 Panamanians and marked the end of the dictatorship of General Manuel Noriega.
    About 300 civilians died in the assault, according to official estimates. Only 23 American soldiers lost their lives.
    But human rights organizations have long estimated the true number of Panamanian victims could be higher, prompting the government of Juan Carlos Varela to establish a commission to investigate the death toll.
    The invasion is an open wound for many Panamanians who each year commemorate the event and have called for Dec. 20 to be declared a day of national mourning.
    *Production> Abraham Teran, Manuel Carrillo)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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