STORY: U.S. invasion of Panama left enduring pains on victims' families
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 17, 2023
DATELINE: Dec. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:57
LOCATION: Panama City
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of empty street view of El Chorillo, Panama City, which was the focus of U.S. bombing
2. various of photos of the U.S. invasion of Panama provided by December 20, 1989 Commission 
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ, Brother of a victim during the U.S. invasion of Panama
4. various of graves of the victims of the December 20, 1989 invasion at the "Peace Garden" cemetery in Panama City
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ, Brother of a victim during the U.S. invasion of Panama
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): ROLANDO MURGAS TORRAZZA, President of December 20, 1989  Commission

STORYLINE:

34 years after the U.S. invasion of Panama, the anguish felt by family members of the victims remains palpable.

On Dec. 20, 1989, just days before Christmas, Juan Carlos Rodriguez's brother Alejandro visited a friend in the El Chorrillo district where the Panamanian army was based. That district was bombed by U.S. forces in the wee hours of the morning.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ, Brother of a victim during the U.S. invasion of Panama
"Every Christmas he (my brother) would bring toys as gifts and give them to us under the Christmas tree. But everything changed after the American invasion on Dec. 20, 1989, and we never put a Christmas tree in our house again, because it was hard to accept that he was gone."

Some 26,000 U.S. troops invaded Panama in 1989, as part of what Washington called Operation Just Cause to capture Manuel Antonio Noriega, who surrendered three days later. 

He was taken back to the United States and convicted of drug trafficking.

There are no exact figures of victims, but different sources place the toll at anywhere between 500 and several thousand.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ, Brother of a victim during the U.S. invasion of Panama
"We are now enduring the pain caused by the U.S. invasion, and they should be held accountable for what they did on December 20, 1989. However, whether on an official or personal level, they have never reached out to us. For many years after that, my mother and other family members had to undergo psychological therapy. This has been an unhealed scar in our family, to the extent that my brothers have even refused to discuss this topic for many years."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Spanish): ROLANDO MURGAS TORRAZZA, President of December 20, 1989 Commission
"This was an invasion marked by the overwhelming military and technological superiority of the United States, where their bombers caused extensive casualties in civilian communities such as El Chorrillo. It lacked any legal or moral justification on both fronts. The U.S. invasion was driven by the pursuit of their geopolitical goals, maintaining hegemony in the Western Hemisphere. The invasion of Panama was also a part of their Monroe Doctrine strategy."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Panama City.
(XHTV)