According to Marc Harkness's column on Feb. 19 the Panamanian invasion was just one big party for him, the American soldiers and all the Panamanians he seems to speak for. But Marc, you seem to miss the point: Panama is not the 51st state.

Let's for a moment forget about all of the pretexts that the Pentagon and the United States Southern Command invented for the invasion. The United States had as much right to invade Panama as Germany had to invade Poland in 1939.

So the United States had to remove the dastardly Noreiga to democratize Panama. "Oh really," as Desmond Tutu would say. They conveniently get amnesia in situations like this.

They forget that they created Noriega and up until a couple of years ago, the U.S. government was paying him more than the president of the United States.

You say, "Temporary measures needed to maintain law and order." Let's see if these "temporary measures" aren't still there in the year 2000 when the Torrijos-Carter treaties stipulate the complete withdrawal of every last American soldier from Panama.

You also just tiptoe over the fact that many Panamanian civilians lost their lives in this party.

Considering the destruction that occurred in one of the poorest, most densely populated sections of Panama, Chorillo, the official death toll of 200 civilians is ridiculously low. Even independent human rights groups and the Evangelical Methodist Church say 2,000 civilian deaths would be a conservative estimate.

Sure, everybody is making a buck off the invasion selling invasion souvenirs. Just look at those lucky entrepreneurs who used to live in Chorillo which looks more like Hiroshima after the atomic bomb.

I also live in Panama and I consider myself lucky to have been there to witness the invasion so that I would know what really happened.

We were lucky to have survived this invasion, Marc, but think about the people who weren't so fortunate before you make light of the situation. No Marc, no se acabo, esta vaina esta empezando.