Independent Publisher
How just was operation "Just Cause," the December 20, 1989, U.S. invasion of Panama? Why was it necessary for the U.S. government to attack and destroy entire neighborhoods of the poorest Panamanians, killing and wounding thousands of innocent civilians? Why did the U.S. military lie about civilian casualties? Why did the U.S. arrest and imprison hundreds of nationalists? Why hasn't the U.S. mass media adequately brought these issues to the attention of the American public? These questions were asked in speeches made in April 1990 at a New York City rally by Panamanian eyewitnesses and victims of the invasion, speeches that comprise the second half of this disquieting volume. "Many who ran out trying to flee from the fire and the bombardment died in the streets, machine-gunned by U.S. troops," recalls Olga Mejia, president of the National Human Rights Commission of Panama, translated from the Spanish by the commission of inquiry. "Others were burned to death in their homes or killed as their homes were bombed. Dawn found many dead in the hallways of their buildings, buried under the rubble or dismembered and totally unrecognizable, either from the bombs and the flame-throwers, or because the bodies were charred or incinerated by the U.S. troops and thrown into plastic bags along with their identification and personal effects. Afterwards, the soldiers threw some of the bodies into the sea. Others were buried in common graves or right where they were found..."
