UNITED STATES: PRESIDENT BUSH CONSIDERING OPTIONS AFTER OBSERVERS REPORT CASES OF FRAUD IN PANAMANIAN ELECTION

Record ID: 268170

  • Title: UNITED STATES: PRESIDENT BUSH CONSIDERING OPTIONS AFTER OBSERVERS REPORT CASES OF FRAUD IN PANAMANIAN ELECTION
  • Date: 9th May 1989
  • Summary: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES (MAY 9, 1989) 1. GV GEORGE BUSH AT MEETING INSIDE WHITE HOUSE 0.11 2. SC/U HEAD OF US DELEGATION JOHN MURTHA SPEAKING ABOUT VOTING (ENGLISH SOT) 0.25 3. SV REPORTERS 0.28 4. SC/U SENATOR BOB GRAHAM SPEAKING (ENGLISH SOT) 1.00 5. GV AND SC/U JOHN McCAIN SPEAKING (ENGLISH SOT) (2 SHOTS) 1.26 TRANSCRIPT 2: JOHN MURTHA "WE HOPE THERE WILL SOME RESULTS OUT SO THAT WE CAN SEE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THIS ELECTION. NO QUESTION IN OUR MIND THE OPPOSITION, IF THE FREE VOTES WERE COUNTED, THE SECRET BALLOTS, THAT NORIEGA WAS DEFEATED SOUNDLY IN THIS ELECTION. TRANSCRIPT 4: BOB GRAHAM: "WE SHOULD BE DOING AT LEAST THREE THINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY. ONE, INTERNATIONALISING THIS ISSUE, SPECIALLY CALLING UPON THE LATIN AMERICAN DEMOCRACIES FOR THEIR UNDERSTANDING AND HOPEFULLY THEIR SUPPORT. SECOND, WE SHOULD BE BUILDING A BI-PARTISAN COALITION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES INCLUDING THE WHITE HOUSE THE CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE; AND THIRD WE SHOULD BE PREPARING OUR STERNER OPTIONS, OUR OPTIONS OF FORCE SO THAT IF THOSE ARE ELECTED WE WILL KNOW THE PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED AND TO BE COMMITTED TO CARRY THEM OUT." TRANSCRIPT 5: JOHN McCAIN: "I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE SOME SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS WITH MR. NORIEGA AND AS UNPALATABLE AS THIS MAY SOUND, IF IT REQUIRES LIFTING AN INDICTMENT IN ORDER TO GET HIM TO LEAVE I WOULD CONSIDER THAT, BECAUSE HIS CONTINUED PRESENCE MEANS CONTINUED INVOLVEMENT IN DRUGS AND CONTINUED DICTATORIAL BEHAVIOUR ON HIS PART." Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 24th May 1989 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA67EH2KM7P10USMK7FMBG66WEW
  • Story Text: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES

    White House officials on Tuesday said United States (U.S.) President George Bush was considering the use of the U.S. military and other options including new economic sanctions to break General Manuel Antonio Noriega's grip on power in Panama.

    U.S. and international observers have accused Noriega and his supporters of fraud in Panama's general elections on Sunday. Washington has been trying to oust Noriega since he was indicted on drug-trafficking charges in Florida last year.

    White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, speaking after Bush received a report from U.S. observers just back from Panama, refused to answer when asked if a U.S. invasion of Panama was a possibility.

    "We never want to discuss military options...I would not want to give an answer to that question," he said.

    The first official returns reported on Panama state television showed the pro-government coalition winning by a large margin. However, unofficial exit polls by the Catholic Church showed the Panamanian opposition winning by a three-to-one margin.

    On Tuesday, the official U.S. team that monitored Sunday's election reported to Bush at the White House. Team members said the president was weighing every option, including military force, to break Noriega's grip on power.

    "There's no option that's left out of the picture," said Congressman John Murtha, who headed the U.S. observer team. He said: "We told the President we saw such widespread irregularities and actual fraud that we didn't see any way it could be a free and fair election." Murtha said he thought the next U.S. move in the political crisis would depend a lot on what the Panamanian people did.

    <strong>Source: REUTERS - IAN MCDOUGALL</strong>
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