Panama's president vetoes law declaring anniversary of US invasion a 'day of mourning'

[Judi Lynn]

Panama's president vetoes law declaring anniversary of US invasion a 'day of mourning'
The Associated Press
Published: February 29, 2008

PANAMA CITY, Panama: President Martin Torrijos has vetoed a law that would have made the anniversary of the United States' 1989 invasion of Panama a national day of mourning, Panama's foreign minister said Friday.

The measure was part of a larger package that called for a "truth and reconciliation" commission to investigate how many people died in the invasion — a provision that Torrijos said would violate Panama's constitution, which does not permit the legislature to create such committees, Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis told reporters.

Torrijos informed National Assembly President Pedro Miguel Gonzalez, who authored the bill, of his veto in a note in mid-February, Lewis said. The legislature had unanimously passed the bill on Dec. 20, the 18th anniversary of the U.S. invasion.

Polls taken at the time of the invasion showed that an overwhelming majority of Panamanians welcomed intervention, which rid them of dictator Manuel Noriega. But many have since come to consider the U.S. operation a blow to national dignity.

Panama's government estimates that as many as 500 civilians were killed in the invasion, while human rights groups and independent investigators put that number at several thousand, with thousands more displaced from their homes.



Son of assassinated President Martin Torrijos (according to Confessions of an Economic Hitman author, John Perkins), Martin Torrijos of Panama, and his American associate.

Need to learn more about the Panama invasion by President _{George H. W. Bush?} If you're interested, take one hour, 31 minutes to view this online video of the Academy Award winning documentary, The Panama Deception, narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-446387292666223710&q=Panama+%2B+invasion&total=88&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

You may want to buy it for future reference.

(some DU'ers who post at the Latin American forum already saw this documentary earlier. Please also check killbotfactory's list of available online documentaries. Good way to spend yourself a HUGE amount of time researching!)