AMCHAM hosts forum on post-September 11 policies

by Eric Jackson

On November 21 the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), in cooperation with the American Society and the Navy League, held a forum on security and economic policies in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States. The announced speakers were US charge d'affaires Frederick Becker, retired US Navy SEAL and current security consultant to the Panamanian Institutional Protection Service (SPI) Michael Fitzgerald, and Continental Airlines country director Robert St. John. There were also presentations by the US embassy's economic and security chiefs.

The crowd at the Marriott was for the most part American, unlike the rank-and-file of today's AMCHAM, which is largely composed of Panamanians people who run enterprises with strong US ties. Though some came to hear about economic matters, those parts of the nights forum were basic, offering little information that hasn't already been reported on CNN. The main interest was in the presentations by Becker, Fitzgerald and embassy security chief Carlos Matus.

By November 21 the Taliban's rule over most of Afghanistan was history and Osama bin Laden was on the run, but Becker had some words of caution. "We've seen dramatic success recently in Afghanistan, but we have to remember that Al Qaeda is spread around the world." Lest anybody view the network's leader as a hero of or a martyr for Islam or the Arab world, Becker also had some words of scorn. "Nothing Osama bin Laden has ever done over the years has advanced the cause of justice in the Middle East," he said.

The charge recounted his September 11 meeting with President Moscoso, and her promise that her government would fully cooperate with the United States. "That support has been tangible, not just rhetorical," he said.

Becker noted that the September 11 attacks revealed some security weaknesses at airports and in other facilities and institutions in the United States, and that those same problems tended to exist in Panama as well. Without getting into details, he explained that these challenges are being confronted on the isthmus as they are in the states. As an example, he said that "immediately after September 11, Panama took some important steps to enhance the security of the Panama Canal," with some US help. Becker also mentioned that Panama has been quite cooperative with measures to increase security at the US embassy itself --- one obvious measure is a set of traffic and parking changes that would make it harder to attack the building with a truck bomb.

According to Becker, Panama's principal contribution to the war against Al Qaeda is in the field of financial investigation. Though there have been few announced successes, he characterized Panama's role in the hunt for terrorists' funds as helpful to the war effort.

The charge then yielded the podium to Carlos Matus, who began by noting that since the former military bases were abandoned as the 20th century drew to a close, many security functions that the US Armed Forces used to perform for the embassy here, and to American citizens and businesses in general, have been taken over by his office. He proceeded to put the risks of violence into perspective for the business-oriented audience.

"There is no terrorism here that we can describe as indigenous terrorism," Matus asserted, allowing that "certain factions do pose a threat, but not a direct threat of attack." He warned the audience to beware of more ordinary crime, particularly in these hard economic times. "The main threat is crime," he said, urging people to keep their doors locked, be prudent when venturing out into the city, and develop emergency plans for their businesses.

If a US citizen reports that he or she has been the victim of a crime to the American consulate here, the matter will come to Matus's office. "We have these people walking around Chorrillo with a Nikon around their neck and a Rolex on their wrist, and I see them when they've been beaten and they're crying," he explained. He urged the audience to avoid conspicuous displays of wealth and to stay out of high-crime neighborhoods.

After the economic presentations, Michael Fitzgerald was the night's last speaker. He began by putting a graphic assessment of Panama's situation on the projection screen: it was a sitting duck.

Fitzgerald was a Navy SEAL, and since his retirement from the military has done private military consulting work in Colombia and served as a corporate security analyst there and elsewhere. He was hired by President Moscoso as a consultant to the SPI, who serve as her bodyguards and perform other sensitive security functions that might otherwise be done by an army, but for the fact that Panama abolished its military forces after the 1989 invasion.

"Panama still is safe, and still is comfortable," Fitzgerald said, "but there are signs that things are changing." Like Matus, he emphasized the threat posed by ordinary crime, citing in particular the proliferation of street gangs.

In the field of international terrorism, Fitzgerald said that Panama's neutrality has provided it with a measure of protection. "There doesn't seem to be any directed threat to American interests here" since the US military withdrawal, in his estimation. However, he also noted that things are not always as they seem.

Fitzgerald accused members of Panama's Arab community of trying to foment unrest, citing in particular a recent incident in which student leftists disrupted a campus forum that featured representatives of the Israeli government and the B'nai Brith. Though the left's antipathy toward Israel and the Arab community's support for Palestinian statehood have been features of the Panamanian political scene for many years, he said that the movement is growing and that the Panamanian government is concerned about it.

In right wing political circles in the United States, the possibility of a massive invasion of Panama by Colombia's leftist FARC rebels is sometimes posed as a genuine threat to the Panama Canal that justifies the return of US military bases to the isthmus. According to Fitzgerald, "there is a guerrilla threat in Panama," but it's "low at the moment." He acknowledged the long history of Colombian insurgents using the Darien jungle as a place to flee or rest, and Darien villages as places to buy groceries. He also noted Panama's role in the gun running business that fuels Colombia's civil conflict, and the fact that many of the Darien's indigenous families have members living on the Colombian side of the border and tend to sympathize with FARC. To Fitzgerald, a lot rides on the outcome of Plan Colombia. He said that displaced residents of war-torn rural areas have been arriving in Panama "at an alarming rate" and noted that many wealthy Colombians are moving their families and business to Panama for safety's sake.

Mireya's consultant minimized the threat posed by drug traffickers to legitimate American businesspeople. "People involved in this business are not interested in upsetting the apple cart," he opined.

Fitzgerald outlined a number of the Panamanian government's measures taken after September 11. There is better immigration screening and a closer watch on the country's seaports and airports. There is more cooperation and information sharing among law enforcement and security agencies. Biochemical labs are being opened, in case of chemical or biological attacks. A crisis coordination center is in the works. Fitzgerald noted that Spain's Guardia Civil is lending its assistance to many of these efforts.

The question and answer period after the presentations, and less formal interviews after that, got into matters like the quality of Panama's security guard services, the dangers posed by taxis, armed robbery, this country's few experiences with terrorism and the big question of whether Al Qaeda has a cell here.

On the 1994 Alas Chiricanas commuter plane bombing, Fitzgerald said that the government's current view is that it was a terrorist attack staged because most of the passengers were Jewish. Becker said that the case has not been put onto the investigative front burner, but neither that unsolved crime nor other terrorist cases have been forgotten either.

To Becker, the 1994 commuter plane bombing, the 1993 kidnappings and apparent subsequent murders of three American missionaries by FARC from the Darien village of Pucuro and the 1992 drive-by shooting of US Army Sgt. O. Zak Hernandez "stand by themselves" and don't represent a pattern of terrorist activity here. "The terrorists who have used Panama, or who have burrowed into border areas," he said, "have used Panama as a safe haven. They have not wanted to jeopardize that safe haven."

But the charge said that Panama is not immune from international terrorism, and that the United States is concerned about possible terrorist networks here. Fitzgerald said that on the Panamanian government's side, old cases are being looked at with a view toward clues about the present situation, and he admitted that the question of whether there's an Al Qaeda cell in Panama "is under investigation."

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