-Caveat Lector-
http://www.siliconinvestor.com/headlines/international/19991220/148773.html
Panamanians Seek U.S. Damages for Invasion Victims
Dec 20 9:09pm ET
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Hundreds of Panamanians took to
the streets on Monday to demand the United States pay
damages to civilian victims of the 1989 U.S. invasion to oust
military strongman Gen. Manuel Noriega.
Marchers representing victims' groups, student associations
and unions gathered for a rally -- dubbed the ``Black March'' --
on the 10th anniversary of the invasion.
``We are marching because we feel that the U.S. should meet
the needs of all those injured in the invasion,'' Yolanda
Varcasia, president of the El Chorrillo Small Business
Association told Reuters at the rain-swept rally in central
Panama City.
The association represents some 300 traders from Panama
City's El Chorrillo district, which burned during the invasion. It
did not specify the amount of damages sought.
Then-U.S. President George Bush ordered the invasion of
26,000 troops to capture Noriega and bring him to the United
States to face drug trafficking and racketeering charges.
Washington has estimated that about 300 Panamanians died
in the invasion. But Panamanian human rights groups say the
civilian death toll topped 3,000.
``We want justice for all the people killed in the vile massacre
carried out by the U.S. Army,'' said Sebastian Vergara, head of
action group the Families of the Fallen.
Vergara added that El Chorrillo residents who lost homes and
businesses during the U.S. assault on the headquarters of
Noriega's Defense Forces have received $11.5 million in
compensation. But he says that's not enough since it had to be
divided among some 3,000 people.
Still, not everyone in Panama shared the marchers' anger.
Some recall the invasion as a move that ended two decades of
military dictatorship.
``We were delighted. All the years of military oppression were
over,'' Engineer Alberto Dominguez told Reuters. ``I cried for
joy when I heard the news that Noriega had surrendered.''
Noriega took refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City on
Christmas Eve, but gave himself up to U.S. forces on Jan. 3,
1990. He is serving a 30-year sentence in a Florida jail.
``The jubilation was unfeigned,'' Panama-based writer and
journalist Richard Koster said. ``The last time the U.S. had
been welcomed into a capital that way was in Paris in
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