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Nueva especie nombrado por biólogo panameño

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El nuevo nemertino fue hallado durante el programa de capacitación en taxonomía tropical de STRI y representa la primera especie de su género en el Caribe. Maycol Madrid, biólogo panameño y asistente de investigación en el laboratorio de la Dra. Rachel Collin. Foto por Jorge Alemán, STRI.

Una nueva especie descubierta en Bocas del Toro fue nombrada por un biólogo local

por STRI

Mientras Natsumi Hookabe nadaba alrededor del archipiélago de Bocas del Toro en Panamá, se encontró con un inusual gusano acelomado o nemertino: grande y de color oscuro, con numerosas manchas pálidas. Era su primer viaje de campo fuera de Japón, así que se preguntó si sería una especie rara o simplemente una que nunca había visto.

A Natsumi le habían interesado los gusanos desde niña, pero cuando conoció a los nemertinos durante un curso universitario, quedó fascinada.

“Me hipnotizaba el movimiento de sus cuerpos mientras se deslizan, generando hermosas ondas musculares”, recordó. “Esto me llevó a estudiar la biología de los nemertinos para mi licenciatura y maestría”.

Luego se enteró de la Capacitación en Taxonomía Tropical que ofrecía el Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales (STRI) en Panamá, y no tuvo que pensarlo mucho antes de volar desde Tokio para sumergirse en las cálidas aguas del Caribe en el archipiélago de Bocas del Toro.

El curso de dos semanas, con el apoyo de la Fundación Nacional de Ciencias de EE. UU., enseña habilidades para la identificación de organismos marinos poco estudiados, incluidos los nemertinos. También ofrece una oportunidad para que los estudiantes establezcan conexiones con otros investigadores de todo el mundo.

“Organizar estos cursos ha sido una manera realmente fantástica, no solo de capacitar a la próxima generación de investigadores en biodiversidad, sino también para que la fauna de Bocas sea cuidadosamente estudiada e identificada por expertos”, comentó Rachel Collin, científica de STRI y directora de la Estación de Investigación en Bocas del Toro. “A lo largo de los años, esto ha llevado al descubrimiento y descripción de muchas especies nuevas en el área. Para algunos grupos de especies, Bocas tiene la mayor cantidad de especies documentadas en el Caribe”.

Durante su estadía en Bocas del Toro, Natsumi conoció a Maycol Madrid, biólogo y asistente en el laboratorio de la Dra. Collin. Rápidamente notó que Maycol tenía profundos conocimientos sobre la cultura japonesa. En su tiempo libre, hablaron sobre manga, anime y juegos japoneses y se enseñaron mutuamente palabras en japonés y español.

Cuando Natsumi recolectó al nemertino de aspecto inusual, supo que quería estudiarlo más a fondo en su laboratorio en Japón, pero esto requería resolver algunos procesos burocráticos. Maycol intercedió y la ayudó a obtener los permisos para recolectar especímenes y transportarlos a Japón, entre otras tareas.

Todos estos esfuerzos rindieron frutos: lo que a primera vista le pareció a Natsumi un gusano raro, resultó ser una nueva especie de nemertino.

“Sin la ayuda de Maycol, mi viaje no habría sido tan exitoso”, expresó Natsumi. “Realmente aprecio su sincera ayuda durante todo el período de mi estadía en Bocas”.

Recientemente describió la nueva especie en la revista Marine Biodiversity, y la llamó Euborlasia maycoli sp. nov. en honor a Maycol Madrid, como muestra de agradecimiento por todo su apoyo. Esta nueva especie panameña se convirtió en la primera representante caribeña del género.

“Para mí fue una gran sorpresa que Natsumi decidiera nombrar la nueva especie de Euborlasia en mi honor”, ​​comentó Maycol. “Me llenó de mucho placer saber que de alguna manera pude ayudar a Natsumi en el descubrimiento de esta nueva especie”.

El Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales, en ciudad de Panamá, Panamá, es una unidad de la Institución Smithsonian. El Instituto promueve la comprensión de la naturaleza tropical y su importancia para el bienestar de la humanidad, capacita estudiantes para llevar a cabo investigaciones en los trópicos, y fomenta la conservación mediante la concienciación pública sobre la belleza e importancia de los ecosistemas tropicales.

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El inusual nemertino que Natsumi encontró mientras practicaba snorkel en Bocas del Toro resultó ser una nueva especie y la primera de su género en el Caribe. Lo llamó Euborlasia maycoli sp. nov., en honor a Maycol Madrid, por toda su ayuda durante el taller de Capacitación en Taxonomía Tropical.
Foto por Natsumi Hookabe.

 

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BREAKING: No Carnival in Panama next year

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Archive photo by Calle Arriba Las Tablas.

2021 Carnival is off, tourism restart delayed

There will not be a carnival,” Health Minister Luis Francisco Sucre said on the Debate Abierto morning television talk show. “Let’s not think about carnival for now. We are focused on everyone’s health and seeing how we reactivate the economy.”

Carnival is, however, a major annual economic event for Panama. Some have criticized President Cortizo for failing to cancel this year’s event, when world news clearly suggested that the COVID-19 epidemic would probably be coming our way.

It’s not just the parades and revelry in Las Tablas and several other places, nor the more low-keyed celebrations in places that don’t much value drunken crowds or lewd public displays. The huge exodus to quiet family outings by the beach or in the mountains may also be downsized. Smaller, family-oriented side events like the Antillean Fair are also likely threatened.

The cancellation is a blow to  the tourism industry, but it may also prevent some petty crimes and traffic mishaps.

 

The bus terminal ought to be a little less crowded. Archive photo by Eric Jackson.

  

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Will the Transito cops miss the busy long weekend? Archive photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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We have yet to hear from the Society of Friends of the Afro-Antillean Museum of Panama (SAMAAP), but their annual Carnival Saturday and Sunday Antillean Fair seems endangered as well. Archive photo by Eric Jackson.
 

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Los vuelos nacionales de pasajeros se reanudarán el lunes

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AP
Foto Wikimedia por Panafly.
 

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¿Wappin? Mostly Spanish stuff this time / Sobre todo cosas españolas esta vez

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Panama has long had an English-speaking community 
El EEUU es el quinto país más grande que habla español

Rubén Blades – Decisiones
https://youtu.be/CRqityqhhEY

Kany García & Camilo – Titanic
https://youtu.be/JpexDfRHlFQ

Xixa – Genesis of Gaea
https://youtu.be/ki9FY8UJ0B0

Cindy Blackman Santana & Carlos Santana — Twilight Mask
https://youtu.be/44Azamz0Qk0

Milagros Blades & Mecanik Informa – Percusión Folklórica Panameña
https://youtu.be/PhW1fpjU2Cg

La Dame Blanche – La Maltratada
https://youtu.be/SpoMXyCicgk

Residente – Antes Que el Mundo Se Acabe
https://youtu.be/FJi3EgUMb4k

Sech et al – Relación
https://youtu.be/XseIJg8Vyj0

Nicki Nicole – Mala Vida
https://youtu.be/aRh8QJoXkGQ

Kenny Man et al – Ando con los Bulls
https://youtu.be/jEAHGuSdKHU

Luis Fonsi& Farruko – Perfecta
https://youtu.be/SJPDb8OrstA

Gaby De Los Santos – Reversa
https://youtu.be/2CYBKMKwHw0

Romeo Santos & Alex Bueno – Nuestro Amor
https://youtu.be/x7N8Ach28tA

Mon Laferte Festival de Viña 2020 Completo
https://youtu.be/_dTilNfxLik

 

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Cortizo en la ONU

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Discurso del Presidente Laurentino Cortizo Cohen

Su Excelencia Volkan Bozkir, Presidente de la 75 Período de Sesiones de la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas

Su Excelencia António Guterres, Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas Señores Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno

Distinguidos Delegados,

La historia nos ha enseñado que las decisiones tomadas en tiempos de crisis definen y marcan al mundo durante décadas.

Es decir, las grandes pruebas de la humanidad como las pandemias, nos han forzado a romper con el pasado, a imaginar un mundo nuevo.

Esta pandemia no es diferente, es un portal, el puente entre un mundo y el siguiente.

Los líderes del mundo enfrentamos hoy un sinnúmero de desafíos extraordinarios, monumentales.

En el corto, mediano y largo plazo, el COVID-19 ha puesto a prueba los paradigmas de la sociedad actual y nos reta a construir activamente el futuro que queremos.

Esto supone cambios en nuestros sistemas económicos, en el liderazgo y gobernanza, la transparencia, la protección y restauración de la biodiversidad, los derechos humanos y la inclusión social.

Señoras y Señores,

El COVID-19 ha evidenciado algunas contradicciones de las políticas públicas, en el mundo entero, y nos revela que un mundo post pandemia tiene que ser sostenible y debe ser mejor.

Las decisiones que tomemos hoy, tendrán consecuencias a largo plazo. Hacer más de lo mismo es simplemente insostenible, es desconocer la escala del sufrimiento humano que ha desatado la pandemia.

Esta crisis es alarmante, en parte porque tiene características nuevas y desconocidas. Es una emergencia sanitaria global.

Sin embargo, la parte más preocupante de la pandemia no es nueva, el COVID-19 ha evidenciado las profundas desigualdades ya existentes.

Si bien la pandemia nos afecta a todos, no a todos nos afecta por igual. Tenemos que enfocar la atención de la colectividad en la pobreza y la desigualdad.

Si antes algunos escogían ignorarlas, ahora es imposible no reconocerlas en su cruda realidad.

Tengamos algo claro. El mundo post pandemia seguirá con los mismos problemas que enfrentamos ahora, pero en condiciones más extremas.

Sólo tendremos un mundo post pandemia distinto, sí desde ahora, aún en medio de esta batalla, mientras tomamos medidas de mitigación, nos ocupamos también de sentar las bases para resolver estos problemas, para generar transformaciones estructurales profundas.

Si aprendemos correctamente las lecciones que nos deja esta crisis, podremos lograr el consenso social que nos permita acelerar las reformas necesarias para alcanzar una sociedad próspera, pero sobretodo justa y más solidaria.

Señoras y señores,

Una de las principales lecciones aprendidas en esta pandemia, por ejemplo, es la importancia de apostar por la ciencia, tecnología e innovación para proveer soluciones que nos permitan ir cerrando las brechas sociales existentes.

Las circunstancias creadas por la pandemia hicieron posible la rápida implementación de sistemas innovadores. Se han acelerado como nunca antes los procesos de aprendizaje, generando una mayor rentabilidad social de la inversión del Estado en innovación.

Esto es especialmente cierto en la economía digital, se refleja en la migración hacia modalidades como el teletrabajo o en el consumo de productos y servicios a través de aplicaciones en línea con entregas por mensajería.

Se ve también en la aplicación de plataformas educativas digitales de primer mundo, que ahora estamos utilizando en algunas de nuestras escuelas públicas o en el caso de la práctica de la telemedicina que permite al ciudadano en áreas remotas, beneficiarse con la atención de médicos especialistas que están a cientos de kilómetros de distancia.

Señoras y señores,

Una de las secuelas graves de esta crisis sanitaria ha sido el incremento en los índices de desempleo pero aquí también se genera una oportunidad importante para que en nuestras economías, basadas mayoritariamente en la informalidad, se sienten las bases y se realicen los cambios necesarios en las políticas públicas para construir el futuro que queremos, el cual tendrá como centro el emprendimiento y la formalización del empleo.

En un mundo post COVID-19, la prosperidad compartida puede ser el resultado de una visión común de solidaridad global.

La más importante lección que nos deja la pandemia, es trabajar juntos en los problemas que afectan a toda la humanidad. Sin duda, somos más fuertes unidos que divididos.

Recordemos que después de la segunda guerra mundial, fue la necesidad de sobrevivir, reconstruir las economías y evitar el flagelo de un nuevo conflicto bélico, lo que unió a los países para generar un nuevo orden internacional.

La pandemia ha producido, nuevamente esa solidaridad de facto, hemos visto como, a través de acciones concretas de los países, se ha movilizado la cooperación internacional, por ejemplo, científicos de Asia, Europa y América, compartiendo datos y experiencias.

Señoras y señores,

Panamá, el país con la mejor conectividad marítima y aérea de América Latina y el Caribe, ha hecho lo propio desde su posición como Hub de las Américas, poniendo su infraestructura al servicio del mundo, manteniendo operativas las 144 rutas marítimas y 1,700 puertos servidos por su Canal; mantuvimos abierto nuestro sistema portuario y aeropuerto, garantizando de esta manera, la continuidad de las cadenas logísticas para suministros globales especialmente de alimentos y medicinas.

Demostramos nuestra solidaridad al brindar asistencia humanitaria y permitir el tránsito por el Canal de Panamá, de los cruceros Zandaam y Rotterdam afectados por el COVID-19, para que sus pasajeros pudieran ser atendidos a tiempo, evitando una tragedia mayor.

Hemos puesto nuestra infraestructura al servicio de la región, haciendo posible que, a través del Centro Logístico Regional, el Programa de Alimentos de Naciones Unidas y la Cruz Roja Internacional, se haya distribuido asistencia humanitaria de insumos, medicamentos y equipos médicos, a más de 30 países.

Solamente unidos todos los países, con solidaridad y cooperación, podremos salir adelante.

Si la comunidad internacional falla en responder ahora, de una manera decisiva, la Agenda 2030 de Naciones Unidas corre el riesgo de ser fatalmente descarrilada.

Un nuevo orden multilateral implica un compromiso real de cada uno de nuestros países, de llevar a cabo acciones concretas, basadas en el cumplimiento de los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible. Y que lo que se acuerde aquí en este foro, se cumpla en casa.

Señoras y señores,

Nuestro planeta ha sido herido con dureza extrema.

La pandemia ha sepultado en el dolor a millones de seres humanos. Hemos estado en una batalla diaria sin tregua, confinados por lo invisible y lo incierto, de frente, sin rendirnos.

Hemos perdido abuelos, padres e hijos en el duelo mortal contra el virus, han caído enfermeras, médicos, trabajadores de la salud. Confiamos en que la vacuna está cerca y que podremos detener este mal que nadie ha deseado.

Nos vamos a recuperar. Los gobiernos y líderes del mundo tenemos la obligación de reconocer errores, estar preparados, que nuestros sistemas de salud puedan enfrentar crisis como la que ahora vivimos.

Podemos y debemos ayudarnos entre nosotros, pero de este horror tenemos que aprender, que más que reconstruir tenemos que edificar una nueva sociedad, más solidaria, más equitativa, más justa.

Entre todos, unidas las naciones, construiremos el futuro que queremos. No nos equivoquemos, la acción multilateral es el camino correcto.

Muchas gracias.

 

Contact us by email at / Contáctanos por correo electrónico a fund4thepanamanews@gmail.com

 

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Richardson & Bendib, Mourning and remembering

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Bendib

When men legally controlled women

by Jill Richardson — OtherWords

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment, when women got the right to vote in all 50 states. Limiting voting to men at the nation’s founding was part of the legal doctrine of coverture, in which a woman was legally represented first by her father and then by her husband.

Denying women the right to vote was only one part of coverture. Here are a few more.

Under coverture, married women could not own property. They first gained that right in 1848.

Under coverture, by marrying a man, a woman was giving him access to her body “till death do us part.” Marital rape did not become illegal in all 50 states until 1993. Even now, sometimes marital rape has lesser penalties than rape that occurs between people who are not married.

At our nation’s founding, love was seen as a flimsy and even irresponsible reason for marriage. Couples were married for economic reasons — he had a large farm, she had a sizable dowry, and so on.

Divorce was rare and legally limited. There were only a few legal reasons for divorce — typically adultery and desertion. Falling out of love wasn’t a reason to divorce because people were skeptical that love was necessary in a marriage in the first place.

At independence, every single state had a law banning sodomy under penalty of death. While these laws sound like they criminalized homosexuality, in fact they often also banned non-procreative acts by heterosexuals or even with oneself. Fortunately, they were rarely enforced.

Since 1776, the family has been changing from a patriarchal one led by a male head of household with a goal of social order and economic stability to one that can take many forms and strives for the goal of love and emotional fulfillment.

When you hear the slogan “make America great again” — whether you support Trump or not — you may think it harkens back to a time where families resembled Leave It To Beaver. White Baby Boomers, at least, might warmly remember this time from their childhood.

But believe it or not, the 1950s was a strange blip in the history of the American family.

It’s true — the divorce rate was low and more families than any other time in America’s history had a father who worked and a mother who stayed home. However, the changes that have occurred since the 1950s are in fact a return to trends that predate the ‘50s — and are arguably more representative of the rest of American history.

Additionally, the divorce rate reached its peak in the 1980s and it has declined since then.

Our country today is not without problems. The part of the 1950s I’d like to recapture is the strong social safety net with good jobs that paid a living wage.

But I’m glad for the progress we have made allowing marriage to bring emotional and sexual satisfaction to both partners and allowing them to leave when it doesn’t. I cherish the increased equality for people of all races, genders, and sexual orientations we have gained in the century since women got the vote.

All that, of course, is under siege.

I don’t want to make America “great again” as it was in the past — I want to continue making it better in the future. We can do that by keeping the best traditions of the past while still identifying how to “form a more perfect union” in the years to come.

We’ve come a long way in the last century since the passage of the 19th Amendment. As anyone watching our current fights can tell you, we have a lot to lose. But if we fight, how much more can we achieve in another 100 years?

 

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Naturgy multada por mal servicio eléctrico

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electric vaina
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30 congressional Democrats call to investigate OAS role in Bolivian coup

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Añnez
Right-wing Bolivian dictator Jeanine Áñez, on the left side of the picture, has quit her presidential campaign. With polls suggesting a first-round socialist victory and growing demands that she stand trial for dozens of murders by her regime, is believed to be preparing to flee to the United States. Bolivian government photo.

Sanders leads 30 Democrats in call for OAS to end the “crisis of democracy and human rights” it sponsored

by Brett Wilkins — Common Dreams

A bicameral group of congressional lawmakers led by Senator Bernie Sanders on Tuesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging the State Department to pursue a “full, independent review” of the Organization of American States regarding its actions following what Sanders and many progressive observers have called a right-wing coup in Bolivia last year.

The letter’s (pdf) signatories — who include Sanders (I-Vt.), Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and 26 other Democratic members of the House and Senate — wrote they are “deeply concerned with the lack of accountability and transparency regarding the role of the OAS in last year’s election and political crisis in Bolivia.”

@SenSanders, @IlhanMN, @AOC, @RashidaTlaib, @RoKhanna, and other lawmakers have sent a letter to @mikepompeo regarding Bolivia’s election

Quote Bernard Sanders: “Bolivia’s post-coup government carried out racist violence against indigenous people, imprisoned activists… pic.twitter.com/oDYqYcJ9od

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) September 22, 2020

“As the New York Times recently noted, OAS claims of electoral fraud following Bolivia’s October 2019 elections were ‘seized on’ by President Evo Morales’ political opponents ‘to escalate protests, gather international support, and push Mr. Morales from power with military support weeks later,'” the letter stated.

“Given that the OAS has been invited to monitor Bolivia’s next elections —  scheduled for September 6th and postponed until October 18th — we urge the administration to use its voice at the OAS to advocate for a thorough, independent assessment of the OAS’ statements and reports regarding Bolivia’s 2019 elections,” it continued.

The letter added:

As you are likely aware, the de facto authorities that seized power following Morales’ forced resignation have promoted a racist, anti-indigenous agenda and deployed the military to violently repress protests, resulting in the killing and injury of many civilians. OAS Secretary General Luís Almagro was quick to recognize the unelected president, Jeanine Añez, and has failed to speak out regarding the deterioration of human rights and persecution of political opponents taking place under her rule.

The letter noted that Mexico, backed by other OAS members, called on the organization’s general secretary to authorize an independent probe of the OAS’ analysis of the Bolivian election, as well as an assessment of the human rights violations reportedly caused by erroneous OAS assertions regarding those elections.”

“The US Congress appropriates the majority of the OAS’ budget,” the lawmakers wrote. “We therefore have a responsibility to ensure that American taxpayer dollars are used to support organizations that function transparently and that uphold democratic norms rather than undermine them.”

At least as often as not, the United States has undermined democracy throughout Latin America, from Monroe Doctrine-based interventions going back to the early 19th century to propping up “banana republics” and other dictatorships during the late 19th and early- to mid-20th century to overthrowing or helping to overthrow numerous democratically-elected governments and teaching torture and democracy suppression to dictatorships’ security forces.

Bolivia has been no exception. The United States backed the brutal dictatorship of Hugo Banzer — a US Army School of the Americas “Wall of Fame” alumnus best known for sheltering the fugitive Nazi leader Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon” — as well as other Bolivian dictators. It also sent elite troops to assist in the assassination of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and has meddled in the country’s internal affairs through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other government agencies.

“The Organization of American States’ decision last year to declare Bolivia’s election fraudulent on the basis of questionable evidence helped fuel a crisis of democracy and human rights that Bolivians are experiencing to this day,” said Sanders in a statement explaining the lawmakers’ letter. “What more than two dozen of my colleagues and I are demanding is that the United States government take responsibility for what is done with our taxpayer dollars and wield oversight over the OAS.”

“Securing accountability and transparency from the OAS is vital to a free and fair election in Bolivia next month,” Sanders added.

 

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Editorials: The Insufferable; and Reckonings

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insufferables
So, he broke with mask and social distancing rules to make a video with “influencers.” While he’s too sick to stand trial for his crimes.

It’s not just the PRD

Flaunting the exceptional privileges of being in with the in crowd. Nothing has destabilized Panama in these times of epidemic and economic misery more than that. The not especially political rich and famous have been noteworthy offenders, but worst of all have been the political caste,

If time and again high-profile PRD members have flaunted sneering privilege and tried to make it a crime for journalists to expose it, now we have the one-man crime wave, Ricardo Martinelli, getting in on the action.

But isn’t he out on bail, with criminal proceedings against him based on a doctor’s note that he’s too sick to stand trial? We need to add a fraud upon the court to the bill of particulars, and start to hold all the accomplices acountable as well. Even if those well-heeled scum call those who object to their conduct “haters” and “jealous.”

These people are inciting Panama toward a revolutionary situation. Let’s hope that when it has run its course a lot of the high and mighty will emerge with negative personal influence and everyone in Panama will have a better sense of humanity and equal justice under the law.

  

2
Rome falls to the Vandals. The Eastern Roman Empire, also in decline, hung on for a few more centuries until it fell to Muslim forces. At its height Rome had an army that could defeat any other, but got too expensive to pay. It had a Stoic philosophy of accepting the presence as unchanging nature, but climate shifts cause crop failures and new diseases ravaged its pestilential cities. Its politics were increasingly corrupt but as slaves were more than a third of the population those games became ever less relevant to those who created the luxuries of the rich. When empires collapse it’s not a pretty sight. But countries that were empires sometimes step back, readjust, and go on as prosperous and secure countries. Painting by Thomas Cole.

Reckonings in places high and low

The world is not coming to an end. However, for some 200,000 people in the United States and more than 2, 250 people in Panama, life has ended. This epidemic is also far from over.

To the “End Times” religious fanatics and other categories of delusional people it may not matter. Or maybe it does, to the extent that they want to drag everyone else down on a calculation that in the end their money or their faith wins them whatever game they style life to be.

Set aside those divorced from reality. The rest of us need to navigate our way through the wreckage, pick up the useful pieces and rebuild. There is no going back to the way things were. Especially not while this epidemic still rages, but not even afterward.

Along with the bitter economic struggles we will get into times of grand disillusionment, new ways of thinking and great enlightenments. Some of the latter are or will be mere hallucinogenic flashes.

How to take stock? How to chart good courses from here? The first thing to do is to recall how people have acted, and what they have said, during this prolonged ordeal.

Those who told us of grand conspiracies, of hoaxes, of “Plandemics,” of how it wasn’t so bad because it mainly struck areas where the detested “they” live, who cast it with racist spins, who ridiculed the sensible if annoying health protecyions – none of that should be forgotten and none of them should be allowed to influence us. Those who have said or done these things from public offices need to be driven from them at first opportunity.

Most notably, Donald Trump has had his show and now it’s time for him to go. In Panama and elsewhere there are many others who ought to be expelled from public life. In the tiny universes of expatriate and ethnic societies, there are now those whom we know should never be allowed to speak for us.

We need to make these distinctions and choices not to get back to things as they were, but to move forward to better times.

  

3
Portrait by Allen Warren.

The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.

James Baldwin

  

Bear in mind…

 

A nation is a society united by delusions about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbors.

William Ralph Inge

 

It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.

Sally Kempton

 

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.

Virginia Woolf

 

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Bernal, The national malaise

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Police in Bogota, Colombia killing attorney Javier Ordóñez, whom they had caught on a curfew violation, with repeated taser shocks. Colombia’s cities erupted in rioting in which seven more people were killed and 56 police stations were attacked. Such furious outbursts are happening across much of Latin America as smug political castes guard their own privileges and ordinary people suffer disease, deprivation and abuses of power.

A growing malaise

by Miguel Antonio Bernal

The fits and starts and breakdowns of the constitutional crisis that we have experienced since 1968 – more than half a century ago – do not cease to worsen the social and economic situation of the Panamanian people. The growing discomfort that you and almost everybody feel takes ever less time to erupt.

Consider the teachings of Ferdinand La Salle, when he affirms that “the problems of Constitutional Law are not problems of the legal order, they are problems of power.” We immediately realize that the entire constitutional structure of the legal entity called Panama since the coup d’état has been crumbling, degenerating and deforming. It’s to such a degree that the attributes, functions and operating procedures of its branches and institutions show an unequaled inefficiency and inefficiency. The cowardice of its leaders stands out in the sea of despair and discontent of the disappointed human conglomerate of society at large.

Day by day the malaise grows in all corners. The daily trampling of human dignity is increasingly resented. Inequality and injustice are serious threats to peace, the rule of law and citizens’ safety. Due process, respect for fundamental guarantees and human rights have been excluded from national life. The political country lives in a permanent carnival from farce to farce. All the while the stage is being set for a tragedy to serve as a pretext to remain in power, monopolize everything, destroy any vestige of institutionality and reinforce the straitjacket that allows the political caste to maintain absolute power.

Those in control of political power have not wanted, nor do they want, to understand the urgent need to lay the foundations, as soon as possible, of a democratic constitutional rule of .law. That can only be achieved if the public power to constitute government is understood and brought to life.

The permanent refusal of the new kleptomaniacs to democratize power, and their stubborn sectarianism in favor of the plutocratic oligocracy, lead them more and more to surrender their functions to the most diverse criminal organizations. The hundreds of homicides reported under this government show us the high degree of penetration of organized crime among the operatives of the highest spheres of power.

The scenes we see today in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico, part of the backdrop to our daily lives, show us that, under this CoCa administration we’re getting into a future identical to the immediate past. Without governance, without credibility, without trust, nothing they do will bring positive results to the public.

The electoral siren songs that come from the caves of political parties and their leadership cliques have already begun to poison the rising new political upstarts, who, without knowing or wanting civic freedoms, only aspire to enjoy the privileges that emanate from the administration of the treasury. But s constituent assembly is the path the nation must follow, no matter how much they seek to divert that destiny.

 

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