PANAMA CITY — Jorge Serrano, the onetime president of Guatemala, today rules over a 125-acre country club outside Panama City, commanding an army of gardeners and dishwashers. In the capital, other failed ex-Latin American leaders try their luck at the casinos, or jog along the seaside Avenida Balboa.
For decades, Panama has granted asylum to ousted strongmen, from Serrano to the shah of Iran. But the arrival of Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru's powerful former spy chief, has prompted an uproar, with many saying this young democracy should no longer be a dustbin for dictators.
"This makes us look like Ali Baba's cave," groaned Miguel Antonio Bernal, a former international affairs advisor to President Mireya Moscoso.
Montesinos fled to Panama on Sept. 24 after the release of a video apparently showing him handing a $15,000 bribe to a Peruvian congressman. The resulting scandal was so huge that Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori pledged to step down and disband Montesinos' intelligence agency, which has been accused of torture, kidnappings and murder.
Panama initially turned down a Peruvian government request to take in Montesinos. But, after pleas from U.S. and Latin American officials, Panama issued him a tourist visa. The government has hinted it will soon give the thumbs up to an asylum petition by Montesinos, who claims he is suffering political persecution.
"As a country, we have maintained a policy of cooperating to solve these international political crises," Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman said in an interview. "There is a tradition of asylum. That may be why other countries ask our cooperation."
But Panamanian politicians, newspapers and human rights activists are questioning whether that tradition should continue. To some, it's a matter of national self-respect. Others say a broader issue is at stake: Who should get asylum? Latin American countries have enshrined the principle of political refuge, a reflection of the region's turbulent history of dictatorships and rebel movements. But, with democracy now widespread, many say it's more important to support local justice systems seeking to hold their politicians accountable.
"Political exile can't cover acts like drug trafficking or death squads," said Teresita Yaniz de Arias, vice president of the national Legislative Assembly. "We're confusing the right to asylum with giving welcome and protection to someone trying to avoid legal responsibility."
