Rustam Karakhanli writes…
Omar Torrijos, who led Panama between 1968 and 1981, is one of the most undesirable state leaders in Washington. The general, loved and supported by the people, initiated agrarian, educational, health, and fiscal reforms and strengthened the role of unions. Although O. Torrijos pursued a course of maximum distance from the United States in foreign policy, traditional leftist leaders in Latin America, such as Fidel Castro, avoided an obvious pro-Soviet policy.
During his term in power, O. Torrijos’ number one objective was to nationalize the Panama Canal by removing it from the control of the United States. After long negotiations with former US leader Jimmy Carter, he achieved his goal and was able to end Washington’s monopoly on the channel. This geopolitical achievement cost Torrijos his life and Carter his power.
Jaime Roldós, who was in power in neighboring Ecuador between 1979 and 1981, was another unpopular head of state in the United States. X. Roldós, who expelled American missionary organizations operating in Ecuador from the country, became the idol of his people by excluding American companies from the exploration and exploitation of rich oil fields. On May 24, 1981, X. Roldós and two months later, on July 31, O. Torrijos died mysteriously in a plane crash. Although precise information has not yet been given about both incidents, the close circle and relatives of the country’s leaders blame the United States Central Intelligence Agency for these accidents, which have become a national tragedy.
Unlike his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, who defeated J. Carter and was elected president in the 1980 elections, he supported a harsh and ruthless policy against the independent leaders of Latin American countries. Reagan, who gained popularity with the movie “Brooklyn Cowboy,” brought a cowboy style, a Wild West attitude based on violence, to international relations. The close relations of George Bush and Dick Cheney, represented in their government, with the oil corporations played a priority role in the formation of this policy. Cheney became vice president years later under Bush Jr. and became one of the main figures in Washington’s expansion in the Middle East after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The deaths of both X. Roldós and J. Torrijos occurred in the first year of the Reagan administration, even in the first six months. These changes allowed major American corporations and oil giants to re-enter Ecuador and Panama. Ecuador is one of the countries with the highest external debt today. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s oil revenue is used to pay debts and loans to the United States and corporations. After the death of O. Torrijos, General Manuel Noriega, relatively loyal to the United States, came to power, but the development of events took place in a different scenario than in Ecuador.
General M. Noriega, commander in chief of the Panamanian National Guard, was the country’s de facto leader between 1983 and 1989, although he did not hold any public office. Although the general, one of O. Torrijos’ comrades-in-arms, tried as much as possible to follow the course of his predecessor, he refrained from a strict anti-American policy. Therefore, he again allowed American companies to enter the country, but did not agree with the transfer of the Panama Canal to Washington’s monopoly. Mr. Noriega even started the construction of the second canal, he tried to entrust the construction works to the government and Japanese companies. Of course, this decision cost him a lot.
In 1989, in the first year of the presidency of the great George Bush, who was vice president under Reagan, the United States took an unprecedented and inexplicable step and began a military intervention in Panama. Almost half of the capital is destroyed and burned as a result of the military attack and thousands of civilians die. M. Noriega, who is not a US citizen, but is the de facto leader of another State, was arrested and taken to the United States, tried, accused of “drug use and trafficking” and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Just a year later, in August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait led to a large-scale coalition military punitive operation against Iraq, but the United States, which actually invaded Panama and captured its leader, did not say ” There’s an eyebrow up there.” the eye.” Noriega transmits to Washington all the military and political secrets he learned during his imprisonment. Of course, not at voluntary speed…
Now, when the hypocritical US congressmen and senators, sold with the money of the Armenian diaspora, invite the remnants of separatism to Washington, to the Capitol and hold meetings, when they demand the release of the leaders of the aggressive junta and divisive, which shed the blood of the Azerbaijani people, the question arises: maybe they are not ours, do you have any news about their history? M. Noriega, who was arrested by American mercenary legislators who presented these bloody desert commanders as “statesmen, political figures”, who committed genocide in Khojaly and who allowed hundreds of thousands of our people to live as displaced people in their country for 30 years, and who killed him. Do you see the difference between Torrixos, X. Roldos and Bako Saakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan and Arayik Harutyunyan? If the United States sees nothing wrong with removing and imprisoning the leaders of other countries who disobeyed it and thought about the interests of their own people, why should it condemn us for arresting separatists who divided our territory, attacked the pillars of our statehood and killed our people?
