US embassy cable - 05PANAMA1802

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PANAMA 001802 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PM, LABOR, HUMAN RIGHTS,POLMIL 
SUBJECT: PANAMAX 2005: TRAGIC LOSS MARS GREAT SUCCESS 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  PANAMAX 2005, a twelve-day, fifteen-nation 
military exercise involving the defense of the Panama Canal, 
concluded August 16.  Although all participants viewed this 
year's multinational exercise as a great success, the 
drowning deaths of three Panamanian Marines during the 
exercise's final phase dampened any sense of jubilation.  The 
loss of three marines in this third annual PANAMAX exercise, 
combined with the death of a marine during basic training in 
January, has resulted in recent unrelenting media criticism 
of the National Maritime Service (SMN) and its director Rear 
Admiral Ricardo (Richie) Traad.  The ability to defend the 
Canal against attacks or disruption of shipping is vital to 
the economy of Panama and other users of the Canal, a key 
transit point for regional and international movement of 
container ships, grain, petroleum, and cruise ships.  The USS 
BATAAN was the flagship for the exercise and served as the 
command and control center for the 150 foreign military 
officials who made up the multinational Combined Joint Task 
Force (CJTF 138).  End summary. 
 
 
Exercise scenario sounds familiar? 
---------------------------------- 
2.  (SBU) This year's exercise marked the third annual 
deployment of multinational forces to the areas surrounding 
the Atlantic and Pacific entries to the Canal.  The exercise 
has grown from three nations and three ships in 2003 to 15 
nations and 35 ships in 2005. Planning for this year's 
exercise took place in a series of three meetings that 
stretched from February to June that occurred both in Panama 
and at U.S. Southern Command Headquarters in Miami.  The 
exercise scenario was designed by representatives of all the 
participating nations.  The scenario was built around a 
terrorist group recruiting new members and stockpiling 
weapons to attack the canal.  As in Tom Clancy's "Red Storm 
Rising," the terrorist's intentions are discovered when a 
member of the group is killed in a car accident while 
carrying documents related to the planned attack.  When 
another member of the terrorist group is captured by the 
police, also carrying information about an operation against 
the Panama Canal, the planned attack is confirmed and Panama 
requests a multinational coalition assistance to defend the 
canal. 
 
Sovereignty 
----------- 
3.  (SBU)   Sovereignty throughout the Panama Canal is a 
serious issue for Panama and only Panamanian forces were 
allowed to operate in the actual canal and coastal waters 
throughout the exercise.  Because Panama officially has no 
armed forces, PANAMAX is portrayed as a defensive exercise to 
maintain the operation of the Canal.  Argentina, Canada, 
Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, 
Mexico, Panama, Peru, and the United States participated in 
the operational phase of the exercise.  Costa Rica, El 
Salvador, France, and Uruguay were observers.  (Note: British 
Ambassador James Malcom told PolCounselor the UK had wanted 
to participate in the exercise but had not received an 
invitation in time to deploy a ship.  Next year England plans 
to deploy a ship in anticipation of the exercise.  End 
comment.) 
 
 
 
Panama likes Embassy's suggestion 
--------------------------------- 
4.  (SBU)  PolCounselor encouraged Panama to develop a 
PANAMAX briefing for the diplomatic corps and attaches and 
provided SMN with a suggested list of 27 countries to invite. 
 On August 11, Traad made his presentation on PANAMAX 2005 to 
a group of diplomats and attaches from 12 countries and 
Panama's Vice President and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis 
Navarro. This was the first briefing of this type done by 
Panama and is viewed as a positive step toward Panama taking 
more ownership of this increasingly significant annual 
exercise.  Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican 
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Japan, Russia, 
United Kingdom, and the United States all sent 
representatives to the briefing.  France was apparently 
invited to the briefing - there was a reserved seat with 
their First Secretary's name - but no one attended.  The 
briefing occurred at SMN Headquarters on Cocle Naval Base, 
the former United States Rodman Naval Base. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Judy Meana, SMN Public Affairs Officer and a 
former news personality began the briefing by emphasizing the 
multinational nature of the exercise and reemphasized the 
stated objective - the ability to defend the Panama Canal. 
The presentation then shifted to Traad who continued the 
emphasis on the multinational nature of the exercise and the 
importance of defending the canal in order to protect 
regional and world trade.  Traad stressed the importance of 
the participating countries  developing interoperability and 
teamwork during PANAMAX.  The exercise used several 
scenarios: a plot to blow up a ship to block the entrance to 
the canal, a mine field being deployed near the Atlantic 
entrance to the Canal to disrupt shipping, and terrorist 
attacks against crucial choke points inside the Canal such as 
locks, dams, and the narrow Culebra channel.  The ability to 
protect crucial canal facilities against terrorist attacks 
involved the use of Panamanian land forces.  Traad reviewed 
the memorandum of understanding that only Panamanian forces 
could operate in the actual Canal during the exercise. 
 
High-level Interest 
------------------- 
6.  (SBU)  Traad showed a film clip from last year's exercise 
and initiated a videoconference from the BATAAN featuring 
Vice Admiral Vinson Smith (U.S.), Captain Marcelo Barbieri 
(Chile), and Captain Antonio Adames (Panama).  Captain 
Barbieri mentioned that 80% of Chile's exports travel through 
the canal.  Vice President Lewis thanked the Task Force 
Commanders for their work.  Panama's Deputy Minister of 
Government and Justice Olga Golcher called it an "exercise in 
peace" and said she was proud of the exercise.  The next day 
Vice President Lewis flew to the BATAAN in a helicopter with 
Deputy SOUTHCOM Commander Major General Richard A. Mentemeyer 
to receive a briefing on the operational phase of the 
exercise and a tour of the ship.  Charge and Pol/Counselor 
also flew to the BATAAN for a ship and exercise orientation. 
Along with its role as the command and control element, the 
BATAAN also used its helicopter assets to conduct 
minesweeping operations in PANAMAX 2005.  Panama's President 
Martin Torrijos Espinosa visited the Consolidated Sea 
Operations Center (CSOC) at Cocoli. 
 
 
Tragedy in the Final Hours 
-------------------------- 
7.  (SBU)  The three Panamanian Marines died early in the 
morning on Sunday August 14 while conducting an amphibious 
assault of Huacha Island on Lake Gatun during a unilateral 
phase of the exercise.  The accident remains under 
investigation and no official report has been released by the 
Government of Panama (GOP).  Sources told the Embassy the 
marines who lost their lives exited the boat while  still in 
deep water.  The Panamanians drowned due to the depth of the 
water combined with the weight of their equipment.  The 
Panamanian newspapers ran stories on the tragedy for the next 
several days.  The articles were generally critical of the 
marine's training, preparation, and leadership but did not 
castigate Panama's participation in PANAMAX.  Embassy will 
issue follow-up report once GOP investigation is completed. 
The "hot wash" and closing ceremonies on August 17 were 
somewhat subdued because of the accident.  Many of the 
exercise participants attending the concluding ceremonies 
wore black ribbons to honor the fallen Panamanians. 
Participants reviewed the exercise strengths (diversity of 
situations, intelligence sharing) and identified areas that 
could be improved (battleforce email, the need for more 
forces in the Pacific portion of the exercise).  Admiral 
Smith expressed his condolences to the Panamanians and 
thanked all participants for their efforts and teamwork.  A 
memorial service was held for the marines following the 
closing ceremonies.  (Comment:  The Attorney General of 
Panamanian announced she is reopening an investigation into 
the case of the marine who died in January.  Initially 
reports blamed the death on an aneurysm but reports of 
physical abuse and excessive exercise in Panama's jungle heat 
appeared in the media this week.  Traad, a former Marine 
Officer in the Panamanian Defense Forces, will face intense 
scrutiny in the coming weeks as the investigations continues. 
 End comment.) 
 
Sensitivity Re Remilitarization 
------------------------------- 
8.  (SBU)  Almost 16 years has passed since the U.S. military 
operation that ousted Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.  It 
has been nearly six years since Panama assumed complete 
control of the canal and the last U.S. troops left Panama. 
These are very recent events for many Panamanians and the 
presence of any U.S. military members is still a "hot-button" 
issue with some Panamanians.  Although Panama's constitution 
prohibits the establishment of a permanent military, 
persistent fears of "remilitarization" exist.  On August 21, 
former Panamanian exile Roberto Eisenmann, founder and 
president of the Panamanian daily newspaper La Prensa, wrote 
an article admonishing Panamanians that the U.S. military is 
dedicated to remilitarizing their country.  He warned 
Panamanians that another Noriega could result and U.S. troops 
would once again die to liberate Panama from a dictatorship. 
The lack of widespread criticism or protest against the 
U.S.-led exercise is good news and reemphasizes the 
importance of exercise planning that takes into account 
national sensitivities.  We must be alert, however, to 
renewed concern in next year's exercise.  Additional 
attention to Panamanian Public Forces safety measures will be 
important to avoid accidents and associated negative media. 
 
ARREAGA