[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 25, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 THE NAMING OF AMBASSADOR GABRIEL LEWIS GALINDO AS FOREIGN MINISTER OF 
                                 PANAMA

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues the recent announcement that Ambassador Gabriel Lewis 
Galindo has been named foreign minister of the newly elected Government 
of Panama. I want to commend the President-elect of Panama, Ernesto 
Perez Balladares, for this impressive and well-considered appointment.
  Mr. President, in naming Ambassador Lewis, President-elect Perez 
Balladares chose a man with a long history of service to Panama and to 
the principles of democracy and hemispheric cooperation. Over the 
course of the past two decades, Ambassador Lewis has distinguished 
himself as a successful businessman, as a capable diplomat, and as an 
ardent advocate for progressive political development in his home 
country.
  Perhaps the finest hour for Ambassador Lewis came during the 
negotiations over the Panama Canal Treaties during 1977 and 1978. 
Ambassador Lewis served as Panama's Ambassador to the United States 
during a crucial phase of the negotiations over these treaties as well 
as during their consideration by the United States Senate. Those 
Americans who worked across the table from him at the time came to know 
him as a man of ingenuity as well as integrity.
  One of those Americans was William Jorden, who served as the American 
Ambassador to Panama during much of the Panama Canal negotiations and 
came to know Ambassador Lewis well. In his 1984 book entitled ``Panama 
Odyssey,'' Mr. Jorden wrote the following:

       Lewis became the most effective ambassador that Panama had 
     had in Washington during its seventy-five years as an 
     independent nation. I have never seen any foreign envoy move 
     so adroitly through the Washington jungle, avoiding the 
     social and political traps that usually ensnare the unwary 
     new envoy. Among other things, he never got bogged down in 
     the endless requirements of protocol--to the chagrin of many 
     colleagues in the diplomatic corps who waited confidently for 
     him to stub his toe on the rocks of tradition. They waited in 
     vain.

  Mr. President, Ambassador Lewis did not bring an end to his political 
activities after the completion of the Panama Canal treaties. Indeed, 
during the late 1980's, Ambassador Lewis would become one of the most 
outspoken opponents of the military regime of Manuel Noriega. He came 
to Washington in 1987 and he used his visibility here to encourage the 
United States to stand up for democratic reform in Panama. He made his 
arguments with clarity and conviction, and his views on the situation 
in Panama would eventually carry the day.
  Mr. President, I know I speak for all of my colleagues in the Chamber 
when I commend President-elect Perez Balladares for the thoughtful 
appointment of Ambassador Gabriel Lewis Galindo to the position of 
foreign minister. I congratulate Ambassador Lewis on his new position 
and I look forward to the opportunity to work with him once 
again.

                          ____________________