Taking advantage of chaos in the streets and the absence of police, Panamanians ignored a curfew, stripping store shelves bare and driving new BMWs off car lots.
While people in some poor districts hawked the spoils of their sprees at cut-rate prices, others fled bombs and gunfire as U.S. troops hunted soldiers and paramilitary bands loyal to Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega.To try to control the situation, U.S.-installed President Guillermo Endara on Thursday ordered a curfew that was to last until 6 a.m. Friday. But there was no one to enforce it.
The police are part of the Panamanian Defense Forces, which either scattered after the U.S. attack or are still fighting. U.S. troops were busy chasing the resisters. At U.S. Southern Command, an officer said plans were being made to start enforcement action.
"This city has been raped, both by the U.S. Army and by looters," said one man along the Via Veneto, a row of fancy stores near the hotel district.
Planes dropped two bombs late Thursday in San Miguelito, location of the Tinajitas garrison where Dignity Battalions and other Noriega loyalists were holding out.
Flares lit the dark sky and machine gun fire rattled in the night. The firing had tailed off by Friday morning.
U.S. troops and armored personnel carriers surrounded the Cuban and Nicaraguan embassies - once they found them. "Do you speak English? Do you know where the Cuban Embassy is?" asked one armored vehicle driver who had parked near the Spanish Embassy. When told the location, he roared off.
Soldiers at U.S. checkpoints scrutinized identifications. At some checkpoints soldiers checked IDs against lists of suspects. Hundreds of Panamanians had been detained at the checkpoints, but it was unclear what was happening to them.
Dignity Battalions temporarily took over a central hotel district but appeared more interested in looting, vandalizing and stealing cars than confronting U.S. troops.
Thousands of people from children to grandparents poured through peeled-back iron doors on stores along Central Avenue, finding products with flashlights and matches.
Some looters went after the basics, like food, soap and toothpaste, which could become scarce. Many were poor and said they had come to look for clothes or Christmas presents. "Somebody's going to take it anyway," said one embarrassed man carrying a trash bag stuffed with loot. Like most Panamanians on the street, he refused to give his name.
Others ran to more expensive tastes. On the road to the airport, where looting continued through the afternoon, new BMWs were being driven off a car lot. At a large supermarket, one man got to the last case of champagne, 12 bottles, picked it up and began walking out. "Merry Christmas," he said.
At least three Panamanian LDS chapels have been looted and several church members who worked for the government have been forced to remain with the "Dignity Battalions" or lose their jobs, a Panamanian bishop told the Deseret News by telephone Thursday.
Local church leaders planned to visit all 30 Panamanian chapels Friday, said Bishop Edwin Brandao of the Panama City Marcasa Ward. He said church members will repair the chapels as soon as the political situation stabilizes.
"Some ward members belonged to the Dignity Battalion. I told them to leave them, but some feared they might lose their jobs. Some have left with success and nothing has happened to them. There's been no retaliation."
Romelia Garcia, wife of Panama City Stake President Jose Antonio Garcia, said morale is low among church members as the battle between U.S. and Panamanian Pro-Noriega forces continues. "We're all very sad. We never thought that this was going to happen to our country," she said.
Garcia said Dignity Battalion members verbally and physically abuse civilians in the streets. She said some have lost their vehicles when battalion members stopped them, took their car keys and drove off.
She said all members will stay home from church Sunday, Christmas Eve. "We have none of the things that we usually have for Christmas."
*Deseret News staffer Sheila Sanchez contributed to this report.