PANAMA CITY (Panama): In a bid to pressure Latin American countries to fight corruption, the United States has stepped up its policy of denying tourist visas to government officials it suspects of graft. But when Washington recently cancelled the visa of a sitting Panamanian supreme court justice, the move touched off controversy and no small amount of puzzlement.

Panamanian Supreme Court justice Winston Spadafora, 64, had his visa revoked for unspecified acts of corruption and because his entry might cause harm to the United States, a US Embassy spokesman here acknowledged this month.

The US government has provided no evidence in public to back up its charges, and Spadafora has never been formally charged with a crime in either Panama or the US. In the past, American officials have described Panama’s judicial system as extraordinarily corrupt. Rumours have circulated in Panama that in his former capacity as interior minister — a post that oversees police and prisons – Spadafora sold favours to drug traffickers and land developers.

At least three former Central American presidents have had their US visas revoked in recent years. What was unusual about Spadafora’s case is that he is a sitting judge with seven years remaining in his term and that US officials publicly accused him of corruption.

“It’s an important departure because he is someone still in high office, not retired as has been the case in the past,” said Jorge Giannareas, a local university professor and political analyst. “Before these things were managed with discretion, and now you have a second rank embassy official accusing a magistrate of the Supreme Court of committing crimes.”

Under guidelines issued last year, the United States is actively enforcing the visa denial policy and speaking out about its reasons for denials as a means of promoting democracy and transparency in government. The US government has made it known that it is taking the action to spur local leaders to investigate alleged illegal conduct. “It’s a way the US government has to say it doesn’t agree with countries that turn a blind eye to corruption,” said one analyst here who asked not to be identified.

Former presidents Arnoldo Aleman of Nicaragua, Alfonso Portillo of Guatemala and Ernesto Perez Balladares of Panama have each lost their US visas because of alleged corrupt activities, but only after leaving office. The US said information gathered in Spadafora’s case is available to Panamanian officials under terms of a mutual legal assistance treaty.

But a spokesman for the Panamanian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday the government has no intention of even requesting the information, much less opening an inquiry into the alleged corruption charges that led to the visa denial. Officials previously had said that the denial is a “personal matter” between the judge and the US State Department. Spadafora’s attorney, Rogelio Cruz, said his client has committed no illegal act and that the cancellation was made without giving the judge a chance to respond. He noted that those accused have no legal recourse and face a suspension of US visa privileges for up to 40 years.

Balladares, the former president who lost his visa in 1999, told a Panama City reporter that he has amassed $1 million in legal bills with a Washington law firm in a bid to get his visa reinstated, with no success. Prior to becoming a supreme court judge, Spadafora served as interior minister under president Mireya Moscoso and had a reputation as being pro-American, facilitating the boarding of Panamanian-flagged vessels suspected of drug trafficking, said one former Spadafora associate.

Spadafora’s brother was tortured and murdered in 1985 under the regime of Manuel Noriega, who was overthrown by US forces in 1989.

Analysts here wonder whether the visa denial wasn’t meant to send a signal to Panamanian President Martin Torrijos to ferret out corruption in his judicary.—Dawn/Los Angeles Times News Service