Panama News Briefs

Missionary kidnap suspect nabbed

According to the Colombian daily El Espectador, police believe that they have captured the man who masterminded the 1993 kidnapping of three American missionaries, Dave Mankins, Mark Rich and Rick Tenenoff, from the Darien village of Pucuro. Colombian authorities say that their suspect, José Milciades Urrego, also known as Rigoberto Loaiza, was commander of the FARC guerrillas' 57th Front, which is believed to have abducted the three men, who were teaching religion classes and translating the Bible into Kuna for the New Tribes Mission when they were kidnapped.

Arias Calderón charges cartoonist and editor

Former Vice-President Ricardo Arias Calderón has filed criminal defamation charges against La Prensa's editor-in-chief, Stanley Muschett, and one of the paper's cartoonists, Julio Briceño. Arias Calderón objects to a cartoon that depicted the legislative alliance between the former VP's Christian Democrats and the PRD as Arias Calderón walking hand-in-hand with the Grim Reaper. Christian Democratic participation in the alliance has been severely criticized by former members of the civilista opposition to the bygone military dictatorship, especially in light of ongoing discoveries at a mass grave next to the old Puma infantry barracks in Tocumen. Muschett, former rector of the Catholic Santa Maria Antigua University and former head of the church's Justice and Peace Commission, and Briceño, one of the country's more popular editorial cartoonists, face four-year prison terms if convicted, plus Arias Calderón is asking the courts for $500,000 in damages from each defendant. A conviction could establish a new legal precedent by which all Panamanian satire would have to be strictly true, which would effectively ban most editorial cartooning and many of the comedies performed in Panamanian theaters. Arias Calderón's criminal complaint has been received with apparently unanimous condemnation from the country's editorial cartoonists. To see the caricature in question, go to the archives of La Prensa's online edition at http://www.sinfo.net/prensa/mensual.htm , connect with the December 30, 2000 issue and click onto its opinion section.

Sossa stalls mass grave investigation

Attorney General José Antonio Sossa has at least delayed and possibly scuttled the investigation of the mass grave found next to the old Puma infantry barracks in Tocumen, by ordering that nobody will be questioned about the bodies found there until and unless DNA tests can establish the identities of the victims. Earlier, when neither of the first two sets of human remains found at the site proved to be those of the disappeared priest, Father Héctor Gallego, Sossa had put the investigation on hold for many months, pleading lack of resources to conduct further tests. The Catholic Church came up with the money that identified one set of remains as that of leftist activist Heliodoro Portugal, and public pressure from the families of some 120 disappeared persons led to the resumption of excavations late last year. Sossa's decision has prompted a firestorm of public criticism, by the families of the disappeared, the Catholic Church, human rights and leftist groups and even members of a presidential commission set up to investigate the matter.

Martinelli may be removed from PARLACEN

Ramón Martinelli, who was appointed the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) on the strength of his uncle Ricardo Martinelli's political patronage with the Moscoso administration, may lose that post for being too greedy. Ramón Martinelli had a paying position with the IDAAN water and sewer utility (where his uncle's Cambio Democratico party imposed a party dues payroll deduction scheme for public workers) from September 1999 until last April, a sinecure that he occupied while also a member of PARLACEN. The legal problem is that the treaty that created PARLACEN specifies that deputies to the Central American Parliament may not hold paid government posts on the side. The Electoral Prosecutor has begun an investigation aimed at removing the deputy, which has been challenged not on the basis of Ramón Martinelli's actions being legal, but on a jurisdictional claim that it is PARLACEN itself, rather than Panama's Electoral Tribunal, that must take whatever corrective action may be taken.

Prominent names on Social Security debtors' list

Cocle Governor Richard Fifer, Arnulfista activist George Weeden, former ANCON director Oscar Vallarino and PRD honorary president for life Carlos Duque Jaén are among the prominent names on the list of people who owe money to the Social Security Fund. Generally those on the list were the legal representatives of businesses that failed after having missed Social Security payments for their employees. Social Security is threatening to sue for the missed payments, and a number of prominent Panamanians are calling for the ouster of the fund's director, economist Juan Jované.

Cops accused of kidnap attempt

The special PTJ anti-kidnapping squad moved in to prevent the abduction of a Colombian businessman in Juan Diaz, surprising four would-be kidnappers, who exchanged shots with police and fled — in a police car. PTJ chief Emilio DeLeón then fired four of his officers and ordered them arrested for the attempt. As we went to the printer three of the ex-policemen remained at large.

Stolen car ring in Transit Authority

Two people who worked at the motor vehicle registry at Plaza Concordia have been arrested for falsifying titles to "legalize" stolen cars. A third employee, who had tipped off police to the practice after being ignored by Transit Authority director Carlos Harris, has been fired by Harris. Prosecutors are now investigating other vehicle registry offices, but apparently not Harris.

New adoption office

The Legislative Assembly has passed a law that creates a new National Adoptions Directorate within the Ministry of Youth, Women, Children and Families. The aim is to shorten the three to four-year adoption process and give thousands of abandoned children a better chance to grow up in a stable family environment.

Weekend holidays legislation falls short

When a PRD-led coalition headed the Legislative Assembly under the Pérez Balladares administration, it passed a Labor Code change to move most national holidays to Mondays or Fridays, for the sake of economic efficiency. The measure was popular in business sectors, but the Catholic Church was offended by the attempt to move Mothers Day from the December 8 Day of the Immaculate Conception and the labor unions hated the idea. The changes were repealed in the year that the La Pintada Pact parties dominated the legislature, but when a PRD-Christian Democrat coalition took control there was a move supported by both Arnulfista and PRD deputies to bring back the "bridge days" law. The attempt fell short on the last day of the legislative session, however, when it became clear that neither of the two largest legislative caucuses was united behind the reform.

Arms found in Palenque

On December 23 police found an arms cache buried on the beach at Palenque, on Colon's Costa Arriba. Recovered were 21 AK-47 assault rifles, nine submachine guns and about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, all of which is thought to have been en route to Colombian insurgents.`

Flooding forces hundreds to flee

An unusually strong North American cold front made it this far south just before New Year's, causing unseasonable downpours. On December 30 and 31 the Panama Canal Authority had to spill water at both the Madden and Gatun dams, dozens of homes were destroyed or damaged in Kuna Yala, Darien and Colon, residents of Pacora and Tocumen saw their tapwater contaminated by sewage, and many people who live near rivers or streams were obliged to seek higher ground.