NBC Nightly News open - 1988-03-04

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] Panama is a country without banks

[0:03] tonight and almost no cash. The

[0:05] president asked for another contra vote

[0:07] and Gart and Dukakus fight their way

[0:09] towards Super Tuesday.

[0:14] >> NBC Nightly News with Tom Bro.

[0:19] Good evening. Well, now we'll see if the

[0:20] Reagan administration's latest plan for

[0:22] getting rid of Panama's General Manuel

[0:24] Noriega works. By shutting off US

[0:27] dollars, the administration hopes that

[0:29] Panameanians will get so angry they'll

[0:31] force out Noriega. As NBC's Dan Molina

[0:34] reports now, the anger is building

[0:36] tonight. For the people of Panama, today

[0:39] was the day when their economic crisis

[0:40] became real. They began running out of

[0:43] money. Like all businesses, grocery

[0:45] stores are demanding cash only. No

[0:47] checks or credit cards. This is payday

[0:50] for these construction workers. Their

[0:52] bosses want to pay them by check since

[0:54] so little cash is available and the

[0:56] workers don't like that one bit. The

[0:59] government has ordered banks closed

[1:00] indefinitely because they cannot do

[1:02] business. Panama runs on American

[1:04] dollars and the United States has

[1:06] stopped sending them. It's an

[1:08] unprecedented turn of events that leaves

[1:10] this woman wondering how to make her

[1:11] house payment.

[1:12] >> Well, I don't know what to do now

[1:13] because when things happen so suddenly,

[1:15] you have to think what you're going to

[1:16] do

[1:17] >> at this jewelry store. More frustration.

[1:20] We don't know what is going to happen

[1:21] with the money of Panameanian banks. Is

[1:24] money that is not worth now any value.

[1:27] No checks. Checks are money, paper money

[1:30] that have no value today.

[1:33] >> Operations at the Panama Canal are

[1:34] normal, but only because special

[1:36] procedures are being put into effect.

[1:38] The fees ships pay for using the canal

[1:41] normally are processed through branches

[1:42] of US banks here. Today, those banks are

[1:45] simply guaranteeing that the payments

[1:47] will be made. Monday, paychecks will be

[1:49] passed out to canal workers, and all

[1:52] these checks will be cashed by the US

[1:53] Panama Canal Commission. But the

[1:55] commission only has enough cash on hand

[1:57] for one payday.

[2:02] The 4-day general strike is over. But

[2:05] today, this spontaneous walkout stopped

[2:07] work at a grocery chain warehouse. The

[2:09] workers were outraged when Panamedian

[2:11] customs inspectors arrived in force to

[2:13] inspect their operation. The employees

[2:16] felt they were being harassed because

[2:18] they joined the general strike earlier

[2:19] in the week. Until today, all the

[2:22] protesting against the Noriega regime

[2:24] had been planned. Now, a crisis with

[2:26] serious immediate consequences for

[2:28] Panameanians is beginning, and they're

[2:30] responding with anger and genuine

[2:32] concern about their future. The State

[2:34] Department has advised all US citizens

[2:36] to stay out of this country. Dan Molina,

[2:39] NBC News, Panama City.

[2:42] The administration has plans for other

[2:43] pressure on Noriega as well and here to

[2:46] talk about some of them tonight is NBC

[2:47] News White House correspondent Andrea

[2:49] Mitchell. Andrea, what about the use of

[2:50] other countries in terms of pressure on

[2:52] Panama?

[2:53] >> Well Tom, the administration has talked

[2:55] to Japan and to European countries to

[2:57] stop them to ask them not to bail

[2:59] Nuriega out. They also have the power

[3:01] here to stop the World Bank, the

[3:03] International Monetary Fund and the

[3:05] Interamerican Development Bank from

[3:07] helping Nuriega. What they can't control

[3:09] though is whether Nuriega would dip into

[3:11] his own money to help out his government

[3:13] and keep it going or whether he would

[3:15] get help from the Colombian drug cartel.

[3:17] Now the most likely step by the US is to

[3:19] freeze those monthly payments to the

[3:21] Panama Canal Commission. And early next

[3:23] week, the president will have to decide

[3:25] whether to invoke emergency powers and

[3:27] freeze all US bank payments to Panama.

[3:30] Is there some concern at the White House

[3:32] that all of this could backfire, Andrea,

[3:33] that the United States could look like a

[3:35] big brutal Goliath stepping on a tiny

[3:37] little David?

[3:39] >> Exactly right. There's great concern

[3:40] here about a possible backlash and also

[3:42] concern, Tom, about appearing helpless

[3:44] if they try to topple Noriega and fail.

[3:47] And that's why the administration is

[3:48] against a broad trade embargo as has

[3:50] been proposed by some in Congress and

[3:52] instead wants to squeeze Noriega by

[3:54] targeting his government's finances

[3:56] alone.

[3:56] >> Thank you very much, Andrea Mitchell at

[3:58] the White House tonight. Another Central

[4:00] American issue. Richard Luger of Indiana

[4:02] and five other senators, Democrats as

[4:03] well as Republicans, say they plan to

[4:06] introduce a new bill for Contra aid next

[4:08] week. President Reagan also appealed for

[4:10] a new vote. A Democratic bill providing

[4:13] just non-lethal aid was defeated in the

[4:15] House last night. And today, House

[4:16] Democrats blamed that defeat on

[4:18] Republicans and warned that action on

[4:20] any new aid package for the Contras

[4:23] could be delayed until at least June.

[4:26] Also coming up here tonight on NBC

[4:28] Nightly News, Jim Berman in Israel on

[4:30] the decision of the Israelis to deny

[4:32] journalists access to parts of the

[4:34] embattled West Bank.

[4:36] >> But not everybody here. and Betty.