The remains of seventy people were found in a collective pit in Panama, thirty years after the American invasion

The remains of dozens of victims of the American intervention in Panama were found in 1989 in a collective pit, thirty years after this military operation that ended the regime of President Manuel Antonio Noriega.

On Thursday, the Panamanian Public Prosecution said, "Seventy dead bodies have been found, of which 16 have been transferred to the Forensic Medical Institute," and a judicial source told the French Press Agency that the number of bodies found was 76.

The search operations began in January in this joint pit located in the cemetery "La Paz Park" in Panama City, after reopening the files of 14 missing persons since the American invasion.

Forensic doctors are now supposed to determine the bodies and cause of death.

On December 20, 1989, 27,000 American soldiers invaded Panama to topple Manuel Noriega, who had been ruling the country since 1983, and the United States pursued him on charges of drug trafficking.

Claim for compensation

Noriega took refuge in the papal embassy in Panama, but eventually surrendered to American forces on January 3, 1990.

Noriega died in prison in 2017 in the United States, where he was convicted of drug smuggling, money laundering and being behind the disappearance of dissidents in the United States, France and Panama.

The number of victims of the US invasion of Panama officially reaches 500, but human rights organizations say that the actual number is in the thousands.

The process of recovering these bodies is taking place at the request of a committee formed by President Juan Carlos Varela, to investigate the circumstances of the American intervention, to establish an accurate tally of the victims and to identify their bodies.

Searches suspended due to the health crisis linked to the Corona virus (Covid-19) have resumed.

"The experts found during the field study that the evidence placed in the place did not match the remains in it," said prosecutor charged with criminal cases, Maribel Cabairo.

Further mass digging is supposed to open in a cemetery in Monte Esperanza in the Colón region (east), 50 km from the capital.

In 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights confirmed the responsibility of the United States for "human rights violations" committed during the military intervention, and asked Washington to "pay full compensation" to the victims.

Victims' rights associations demand that the United States - which has promised to cooperate with the investigation - recognize its responsibility, reveal collective drilling sites and pay compensation.