European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 12. 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 . Heightens Security in canal zone Panama relations worsening since expulsion demand b 1 the cos atm so tar Washington . Forces in the Panama canal Zane Ait using appropriate precautions ibis week in the Wiki of panamanian demands that Ameri can troops Bui out of the tone. The Pentagon said. . Citizens and military do Pendents were urged to exercise Good sense and caution in travelling n the country where relations Between the United states and panamanian strongman Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega have steadily worsened. Military spokesmen declined to discuss the nature of the heightened Security measures around inc canal but characterized them As nothing  oven talk of placing american forces inside he zone on Alert however. Stands in Sharp contrast with the normally close relationship Between . Forces and Panama. Military and National Security analysts said tuesday the expulsion demand from Panama signals an irreversible turn in relations Between the two nations As Long As Noriega remains in Power. More . Forces arc stationed inside Panama than in any other Central or South american nation. The Headquarters of the . Southern come one of six major global subdivisions of the american military is in Panama. Although once assigned primarily to de fend the canal the command s chief responsibility Loday is to counter soviet and cuban militarization and other destabilization undertakings in the Region. In a hit country Ricc. The Day. The officer corps of the panamanian defense Force psf fab card the Southern come a Point of aggression against Panama and urged that . Force she ordered out of the country. The break Between the two countries would appear to be Complete said James Woolen an analyst with the congressional research service a bipartisan re search group Tenning to Congress. Noriega has upped the Anle to the Point where something will have to give approximately 12,000 . Forces an Assifi cd to Southern come. Most of those including the 193rd inf brigade Are in Panama. The mixture of . Forces Roundle canal itself includes infantry airborne Spe Cial forces Engineer artillery medical and signal bal la Lions. In addition the army s Jungle warfare train ing Center and the air Force s Southern air div Are headquartered in Panama the canal is a critical linkage in global shipping and has frequently been the target of terrorist threats. Panamanian forces Are not involved in protecting the canal and have never been regarded As a threat to it according to Robert Sanchez a Central american in Pun with he congressional research service. The psf seized Power in 1968 although it has Al Lowed nominal civilian control. Lightly armed and with Little air Power the psf numbers approximately 4.500troops, mostly infantry Pentagon and Centra intelligence Agency officials have Long been suspected of relying on Noriega for intelligence information about his Central America neighbor. Mil criminal activities were suspected for Yean but apparently tolerated while . Officials privately pushed for reforms. Under the provisions of a 1978 treaty Between the two nations Panama will gain control of inc canal at the end of 1999. The psf will also gain control of All . Military installations at that time and assume primary responsibility for defense of the waterway. As a stepping Stone toward relinquishing control of the canal the membership of Ilic Panama canal com Mission will change in 1989 to allow a panamanian to serve As president of the nine member Board for the first Lime. A . Majority will remain in control until 1999, however. Some confusion still exists Over the future defense of the canal according to Sanchez. The agreement giving up the anal is in the form of two treaties the analyst said. The first actually Grants control of the canal to Panama and the second pro Vides that Panama shall insure the neutrality of the canal keeping it open for All the world s shipping. During the debate Over ratification an amendment was offered to the second treaty by sen. Dennis do Concini Darla. Thai was never agreed to by the panamanians. The Deconcini amendment provides that both the United states and Panama have joint responsibility to insure that inc canal remain pro and Neutral. Either country May act to defend inc canal against any threat to the regime of neutrality and consequently shall have the right to Aci against any aggression or threat directed against the canal according to the amendment. The main treaty also specifies that after Panama assumes control of he canal Only its forces May Ever occupy defensive Sites around the waterway or within panamanian boundaries. Southern come vital in . Latin operations Quarry Heights. Panama a the Southern come the focus of strained relations Between the United Stales and Panama has become inc Cen Ter for . Military operations in latin America from fighting rebels to drug smugglers. The command initially created to protect the Panama canal look on those additional duties Over the decades. Today 10.000 army Navy and air Force men and women respond to orders from the Hillside Headquarters of he command. Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega who has been indicted in Florida on charges of smuggling drugs and laundering Money earlier ilm week rejected inc presence in Panama of the command. The officer corns of the defense Force lie Heads called for inc removal of . Forces Iron Panama. Tic com Maud called South com by its members. Operates reconnaissance flights from Panama to Walch the move ments of sandinista farces and it also helps truck narcotics traffickers and cuban military moves. Noriega is the country s lop military officer and do Facto Leader. He emerged As the top Leader in Panama in 1983 and is widely regarded As retaining real Power despite the election of a civilian government in i98i. According to the 1977 Panama canal treaties the in mile Vonjj waterway link ing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the . Military bases along its shores will be turned Over to panamanians on dec. 31,1999. Until that Lime the United states irresponsible for running the canal. The treaties say the bases arc under the Complete control of Washington we be been making preliminary plans for withdrawal in 1999 South Corn spokesman William Ormsbee  is not synonymous with the   after inc treaties Are fully implemented and the bases Are turned Over to Panama the United slates is committed under the pacts to guarantee the neutrality of the waterway  since the treaties went into effect in 1978. Several military installations have been turned Over to Panama and the canal zone was dissolved As a Legal entity. Many panamanian officers now live in the whitewashed wooden Homes built or american personnel in the 1920s with neatly groomed lawns along streets that still Bear English rather than Spanish names. About 370 military men and women Are based at Southern s Quarry Heights Headquarters just outside Panama City. The other Mam installations arc Howard a fort Clayton fort Sherman and fort William Davis. Ormsbey said the . Government injected about $200 million Inlo the Pana Manian Economy in goods services and salaries during 1986. The Southern come traces its beginnings to the arrival of the marines i Panama in 1903, just Days after Panama with encouragement from Washington declared Independence from  troops arrived in 1911, three years before inc canal opened. . Military strength in Panama peaked no 67,000 during world War ii. The . Army school of the Ameri Cas was started in i wifi at fort Amador to train latin american officers and Fos Ter Ami communism. Later moved to fort Gulick it became known among left leaning latin americans As the school of coups for the instruction i provided to thousand res of rightist officers from Argentina Barril Bolivia e Salva Dor Nicaragua and other countries. Under the treaties the school was or dered out of Panama in 1984, it was moved to fort Binning of Soui com s primary Job remains de sense of the canal. But its duties have evolved Over the years. The command is responsible for . Military operation throughout latin America which have ranged from Road building in Central America to a joint anti narcotics drive in Bolivia. It handles the assignment of military advisers including those in Al Salvador to train troops in Coomer insurgency