FOR SALE, CLINTON STAR WITNESS

FOR SALE, Clinton Star Witness

What is the price for selling out your country? For Panama Canal Administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta, the answer is about $10 per Panamanian. He joins the ranks of infamous Panamanians like drug dictators Noriega and Torrijos, who have sold their nation for money. Zubieta was Clinton's star witness who lied at the recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearings that Communist China has not been given U.S. ports, bases and functions of the Panama Canal. Many of you readers saw him on C-Span. He is my Panamanian countryman, but his betrayal is of both of my countries-Panama and the U.S.-though that will not stop him from fleeing north when the results of his treachery show their inevitable result.

When Comrade Zubieta first read the 50-year treaty signed between Panama and Communist China (Law #5), he was outraged. It violated the Panama Canal Treaties and the Panamanian constitution. This fact is indisputable. It was told to me by one of his friends and widely reported in the Panamanian media (La Prensa, El Panama America, El Siglo) by former Vice President Ricardo Arias Calderon of the Christian Democratic Party. But that was before Zubieta's $24 million dollar deal to upgrade a former U.S. military base in Panama, Amador, for commercial development.

Last year I was discussing Zubieta's other business dealings in the Canal which have occurred since he changed his opinion about Law No. 5. One of Zubieta's business partners chided me for getting it wrong. I had publicly stated that he received $31,000 a day for a barge working in the Canal. I was wrong; he earns $48,000. And if there is any mechanical trouble on the barge, the Panama Canal pays to fix it, and Canal workers was as the administrator of the Panama Canal Commission, a job which under U.S Civil Service laws forbids, among other things, conflicts of interest.

Suppose for a moment that he were a high official of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in charge of the Canal as in former days, and then suddenly he owned a dredging company that was doing all the dredging of the Canal and associated waterways for which the Corps was giving the contracts, thus paying himself $48,000 a day? Where is the enforcement of law? Where is the security which Panama was promised? You get the picture.

Who knows about this well-kept secret? The El Siglo newspaper in Panama headlined my charges regarding Zubieta's barge contract. They reproduced my letter to the Panama Canal Inspector General. In another leading Panamanian paper, El Panama America, in an article on April 15, 1997, former Vice President Calderon is quoted as stating that Mayor Alberto Aleman Zubieta said the same thing to him, an admission solidly against Zubieta's present position as just stated under oath before the Warner hearings.

But let's not lay all the blame on the Panamanian. The response to Zubieta's opposition to the Panama-Communist China Treaty by the then U.S. Secretary of the Panama Canal Joe Reeder was swift and in no uncertain terms: Back off. He war ordered not to interfere with Clinton's Communist Chinese campaign donors, the Lippo Group, China Resource Enterprise (CIA of Communist China), and Li Ka-Shing. This was in 1996 and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was selling the nation for money. Reeder now sells the nations from his new job at Patton & Boggs, Noriega's lobbyist firm between 1983-85. Rewards for betrayal and stonewalling for the truth is what we see. Scoop Jackson, where are you now that the nation needs you?

Who I really felt sorry for was poor Webster Hubbell. The poor man had to listen to America claiming that he received the Lippo money and did nothing. It is not true. He served as the point man for Lippo on the Panama-Communist China cover-up. Being a traitor is hard work.

But, back to Zubieta. I am as much to blame as anyone for his appointment. Based on recommendations of those who knew him well, and I respected, I supported his appointment. My investigation showed that he had an excellent reputation. He was the man for the job.

The one intangible unknown at the time was Zubieta's lack of backbone. His wishy-washy style quickly became apparent. Panamanian President Balladares easily pushed him around and named family members, business partners and friends to high positions in the Panama Canal.

Zubieta welcomed with open arms men like Canal Director Moises Mizrachi (130 cases of fraud and kidnapping and with an accusation of murder from his former business partner), Canal Director Gonzales Revilla (who, along with partner President Balladares, defrauded two U.S. companies), and the new Treasurer of the Panama Canal Ricaurter Vasquez (tied in with a government finance company under Noriega with $35-70 million in missing funds).

It took the United States 60 years to raise the tolls one time. Under U.S. control, the tolls subsidized the entire Canal Zone and the Canal operated like a synchronized Swiss watch. Under U.S. control a first class military force whose primary mission was to keep the Canal open protected the Zonians, who ran the Canal were decent, hardworking, dedicated, honest, and simply put, the best of the best.

The Zubieta Panama Canal runs like Panama. Since 1979, Panama has raised the tolls 8 times and the dollar amounts have increased almost 150 percent. Miter gates almost fall off, the anti-terrorist system is inoperable, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified 830 major problems (40 percent have not been dealt with), and the Panama Canal has not a major overhaul in 20 years. (The Zonians did it every three years.) Watchmen are now responsible for the defense of the Canal, with two Colombian rebel armies, listed on the State Department's terrorism list, within walking distance of the Canal. Just recently, these Colombian rebels stole two helicopters from a former U.S. Air Base (Albrook), 30 seconds flying time from the Canal.

President Clinton has scheduled a trip to Panama to give away the Canal on Dec. 14. My fellow Americans, with your support, it can be stopped. Larry Elgin and his organization, U.S. Defense-American Victory, have brought in Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch to aid in the legal fight. Obviously Alberto Aleman Zubieta and William Jefferson Clinton are going to continue the betrayal of two nations. Only court action can stop them now.

We can hand the "Clinton/Carter Democratic Communist Chinese Party of America" (not the party of Scoop Jackson and Harry Truman who stopped the Communists in Greece or John Kennedy who fought for progress in Latin America to stop Communism, not reward it) their single greatest defeat of this century. The Panama Canal is an American Canal. Its continued neutrality and operation is the lifeblood of Panama as well as a vital link in U.S. security and commercial strength. We will not surrender the Canal without a fight.

William Bright Marine is a dual U.S./Panamanian citizen who has led the fight to secure a new Panama Canal Treaty and U.S. Base Treaty since 1995. He was jailed, tortured, and exiled twice by Noriega. This article was published Friday, November 12, 1999 on WorldNetDaily.com which also holds the copyright.