Accuser of Panama Strongman Reportedly Admits He Lacks Supporting Evidence

PANAMA CITY — A retired colonel arrested when troops stormed his home has no evidence to support accusations that Panama’s military strongman masterminded assassinations and rigged elections, sources in the assistant prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.

Retired Col. Roberto Diaz Herrera, Panama’s former No. 2 military man, was said to be in good health despite a two-hour gunfight early Monday between people at his residence and security forces. Diaz was taken to the prosecutor’s office for questioning twice Monday, a source said.

“I don’t have any supporting evidence,” the source quoted Diaz as telling assistant prosecutor Rafael Guerrero about his accusations that Panama’s strongman, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, masterminded two political assassinations, rigged the 1984 presidential election and used his position to amass wealth.

Helicopter Assault

Panama’s attorney general ordered the arrest of the former chief of staff. He was seized along with about 45 other people Monday at his home in a wealthy residential area of the capital. Troops used helicopters and tear gas in their raid on the home.

Diaz’s wife, Maigualida, who is Venezuelan, and their three children were not among those arrested. Sources said Vatican representatives have asked the Panamanian government to allow Diaz’s family to leave the country.

Diaz was forced into retirement last May after having accused Noriega of involvement in the deaths of Gen. Omar Torrijos, the nation’s former strongman who died in a plane crash in 1981, and of former Vice Health Minister Hugo Spadafora, murdered in 1985.

Sources said Diaz told the assistant prosecutor that his earlier statements, which provoked widespread protest in the capital, were “based on conversations with the Spadafora family.”

Rejected Asylum

Diaz, who was offered asylum in Spain but turned it down, had also charged Noriega with rigging the 1984 presidential election--forcing the resignation of the declared winner, Nicolas Ardito Barletta.

Diaz’s accusations against Noriega, considered the power behind the civilian government, sparked two days of violent demonstrations before the government suspended civil rights in a state of emergency that lasted 19 days.

Since then, Diaz has left his home only occasionally, receiving journalists and followers at his residence. He had been asked to present his accusations before the attorney general but had not done so before Monday’s raid.

A source close to Diaz had said the retired colonel was wounded in the leg by a bullet during the raid on his home, but a Defense Forces spokesman, Maj. Edgardo Lopez, denied it.