HELMS SAYS PANAMA LAGS IN PLAN FOR U.S. PRESENCE

Counternarcotics center would add military personnel

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jesse Helms, who heads the Foreign Relations Committee,
accused the Panamanian government Tuesday of failing to negotiate in good
faith with the Clinton administration over a plan to extend the U.S.
military presence in that country.

Helms, R-N.C., said the government of President Ernesto PE9rez Balladares
had backslid on a preliminary deal in December to create a multi-nation
counternarcotics center in Panama, which would be funded and staffed
primarily by the United States.

``Since that time, the Panamanian government clearly has not bargained in
what I would regard as good faith,'' Helms said in a hearing. He accused
Panama of trying to ``impose dramatic limitations on the size and scope and
duration of the U.S. presence.''

Administration officials did not dispute Helms' claim, saying the talks are
hopelessly tangled in PE9rez Balladares' bid to win a referendum that
would allow him to run for another five-year term. Sincethat vote doesn't
occur until Aug. 30, U.S. officials voiced skepticism that a deal would
emerge before September.

U.S. presence

For nearly six months, U.S. and Panamanian negotiators have clashed over
details surrounding the proposed center, which was originally slated to
include up to 2,000 military and civilian personnel from throughout Latin
America, with about 80 percent coming from the United States.

Under the Panama Canal treaties, the United States is scheduled to remove
the last of fewer than 5,000 remaining soldiers and hand over control of
the U.S.-built canal to Panama by Dec. 31, 1999.

Hoping to retain a toehold in the region, U.S. officials proposed the
center more than two years ago, saying it would benefit both nations by
preserving Washington's ability to conduct anti-narcotics maneuvers and
protect the canal, while providing Panama with a windfall in U.S. military
expenses and savings on maintenance.

Target for nationalists

Without denying Panama's strategic location in the drug war, some critics
view the proposed center as little more than a fig leaf for circumventing
the landmark canal treaties. The center will be perceived as a U.S. base,
they say, and become a rallying point for Panamanian nationalists.

Mark Falcoff, author of a recent book on Panama and a resident scholar at
the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C., told
lawmakers the anti-drug center would become ``a permanent object of
controversy . . . (and) an open sore in Panamanian politics.''

But Helms and his longtime sparring partner on Latin American affairs, Sen.
Chris Dodd, D-Conn., both urged the administration to continue to strive
for a deal.

``I believe such a center could be an enormous step forward in promoting
international cooperation (in the drug war) -- something we haven't been
getting,'' Dodd said.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)