Diary May Be That Of Noriega's Witch -- Mysterious Woman From Brazil Evaded U.S. `Most Wanted' Hunt

PANAMA CITY, Panama - When Gen. Manuel Noriega was deposed by U.S. forces Dec. 20, he and his associates left behind tons of documents that have become grist for the mills of U.S. and Panamanian investigators. Perhaps the strangest find was the diary of a woman from Brazil.

The diary, now in the hands of the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID), belonged to Rosileide dos Gracias Oliveira. According to the Army, she was Noriega's Brazilian witch.

Shortly after the U.S. invasion, Oliveira became the subject of a literal witch hunt by the U.S. Army. At the CID's behest, she was put on a ``most-wanted list'' of Noriega associates. She was never caught, and investigators believe she left the country.

The CID is translating her diary, written in Portuguese, the language of Brazil, and studying it for insights into the complex psyche of Noriega, who awaits trial in Florida on drug charges.

According to CID agent James Dibble, a specialist on the occult who is familiar with the diary, its pages are filled with references to Oliveira's meetings with Noriega, whom she refers to by the Spanish term ``el jefe'' - the chief. Entries concerning her sessions with the general are marked with four stars, for his rank, Dibble said.

In one long entry, Oliveira describes a rendezvous in Noriega's office in which she says she resisted his drunken sexual advances, according to Dibble. Another passage tells of their wading into the sea together to cast flowers upon the water in one of Noriega's rituals. Other entries contain more sinister implications.

One of the last refers to a mysterious visit by Oliveira, two days before the U.S. invasion, to a notorious penal colony - Panama's equivalent of Devil's Island - on Coiba, off Panama's Pacific coast. The diary does not say what she did there.

Noriega maintained quarters and a small shrine dedicated to a Brazilian form of voodoo at a commando school he founded on Coiba. The island was rumored to have been the scene of executions during Noriega's rule, but this has never been confirmed.

The book was discovered when U.S. troops raided a house used by Noriega for black-magic rituals. Evidence indicated that Oliveira, the latest of several witches employed by Noriega over the years, had fled minutes before U.S. troops arrived. Inside they found burning cigarettes, lit candles and Oliveira's purse.

Also found in the two-story building, situated on the joint U.S.-Panamanian military base of Fort Amador and dubbed the ``witch house'' by U.S. forces, were belongings of Oliveira and her husband and a son, including her son's birth certificate.

The papers and photos Oliveira left behind show her as a plump, dark-skinned 27-year-old woman from Rio de Janeiro.

Several books in Portuguese on Candomble - a Brazilian religion similar to, but not the same as, voodoo - were left behind, along with her personal manual, titled ``Exu,'' on magic rites and spells. ``Exu,'' meaning ``the devil,'' must be propitiated at the start of Candomble ceremonies so he will not disrupt the rites, the religion's adherents believe.

Also recovered by the CID, Dibble said, was Oliveira's return airline ticket to Rio on a flight the day after the invasion.

Dibble said he had hoped Oliveira could shed more light on Noriega's black-magic practices and, possibly, on the sadistic 1985 murder of Panamanian opposition leader Hugo Spadafora.

The Spadafora family has accused Noriega of ordering the murder after Spadafora publicly accused Noriega of involvement in drug trafficking. Spadafora's headless body was found in a U.S. postal sack just inside Costa Rica in September 1985 after he crossed the border by bus into Panama and was arrested by Noriega's Panama Defense Forces.

Spadafora, 45, a medical doctor and former vice minister of health, had been severely tortured before he was decapitated.

Because of evidence of occult practices found after Noriega was overthrown, questions have been raised about whether the Spadafora murder was a ritual killing.

U.S. investigators say they have found items used in occult rituals at five places frequented by Noriega, including the home where his wife and children lived and his main office. Discovered in his office desk were photographs of unidentified murder victims, including some whose bodies had been mutilated.

Most of Noriega's religious items are associated with Candomble, a synthesis of Roman Catholicism and African tribal beliefs in which gods and saints are propitiated with ritual offerings. But other objects showed that Noriega also practiced a ``malevolent'' form of the religion involving ``diabolical'' spells, Dibble said.

Most puzzling, he said, was the discovery of two items associated with Palo Mayombe, a religion that requires the use of human bones and body parts, especially skulls and brains. Palo Mayombe is based on the belief that spirits can be created from dead people and then invoked for assistance and protection, said Dibble, who advises U.S. law-enforcement agencies on ``cults and deviant movements.'' He said many Latin American drug traffickers adhere to the sect.

Among the objects found at Noriega's ``witch house'' was a rock covered with Palo Mayombe markings. Under it was a list of two dozen enemies including the ``Spadafora family.''

Indications that Noriega may have followed Palo Mayombe are considered inconclusive.