also in this section: Plan Colombia supply and troop flights to operate from Panama

Panama News Briefs

$20 million for RP in Plan Colombia budget

The Bush administration has asked the US Congress for $400 million in Plan Colombia funds for the 2001-2002 fiscal year, most of which is earmarked for neighboring countries that will be affected by anti-drug operations and escalated warfare in Colombia. Some $20 million of the request is for Panama, mostly for anti-drug efforts. The request also calls for $4 million in economic aid for areas affected by influxes of refugees, $1 million in unspecified "military assistance" and $170,000 to give Panama's border police military training.

Women's rights treaty ratified

Despite opposition from the Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups, the Legislative Assembly has passed and President Moscoso has signed the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Critics contended that the treaty's provision that women have a right to control their reproductive lives implies the legalization of abortion in Panama.

Two die, two hurt in shootout among cops

A police corporal and a civilian were killed and two other people were hurt on March 29, in a 20-minute shootout among border police at Yaviza. The violence started when a lieutenant attempted to discipline two corporals for being drunk on the job. The violence centered around the José Mejía School, whose 150 students were forced to flee.

Remains found in city

The Truth Commission, whose work has been slowed by lack of funds, has recovered skeletal human remains from under a patio at a house on Avenida Justo Arosemena in Panama City's La Charquita neighborhood. The house, which was used by the defunct Panama Defense Forces in the 1970s, is though to have been one of the places where the disappeared Catholic priest, Father Héctor Gallego, was held. The Truth Commission, in addition to this excavation and others in Tocumen and David, is also investigating a site in Miraflores.

Terán quits

Health Minister Dr. José Manuel Terán, who has frequently been mentioned as a possible Arnulfista presidential candidate in 2004, resigned for unspecified reasons on March 29. He was replaced by Dr. Fernando Gracia García. Terán is staying on with the Moscoso administration to head a program to clean Panama Bay.

Mystery recordings

It seems that somebody was taping cell phone calls made by President Moscoso and prominent political figures of both the opposition and the government and sending them to various media. After saying that she knew who made the recordings and would name them, the president backed down and said that the PTJ would continue an investigation, and vowed that the tapes' contents would not force her to resign. Two persons who were detained for questioning have been released, and the police say that they are no longer suspects. Prominent lawyer and activist Miguel Antonio Bernal, who had been identified as a suspect by El Universal and some of the local television stations, called it a politically motivated lie and denied any connection with the recordings. It turns out that the president's phone calls are not scrambled and can be readily intercepted not only by the US National Security Agency's Echelon system, but also by any amateur snoop with a little knowledge and a few hundred dollars worth of legal electronic equipment.

Mireya calls the press sick

Under criticism from the OAS for the criminal defamation charges pending against about one-third of all Panamanian journalists, President Moscoso lashed back, accusing all of the media of being "morbid" and only publishing bad things about her government. Among the "morbid" stories that Mireya specified were her administration's nepotism, the scandal about seamen's papers being sold by Panama's consulate in the Philippines and the unregistered helicopter that fell into the sea from the presidential entourage.

Herrera Transito director busted

Omar Augusto Villarreal, who was Transit Authority director for the province of Herrera, was arrested on April 10 for demanding a $3,800 payment to issue a taxi permit. The new national Transit Authority director, Dr. Pablo Quintero Luna, said that the corruption that has long been the norm with respect to taxi and bus permits will no longer be tolerated.

Stolen cars recovered

Customs officials have arrested two Canadian citizens and seized two Lexuses, a Mercedes Benz and $70,000 in cash at Puerto Manzanillo and the Port of Balboa. The cars were stolen from Canada, and tracked here in an investigation that involved the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI.

Child snatcher nabbed

An American man who used three PTJ officers to abduct his two children from their mother in Panama City, who has legal custody, was apprehended on March 28 in Costa Rica. The children were promptly returned to their mother, and the father and three police officers are in jail to face kidnapping charges.

Search for Mexican rebels turns up Colombian wildcatters

In a meeting rigged to demonstrate support for the canal watershed expansion in rural areas to be affected, an alleged campesino leader alleged that Coclesito has been infiltrated by Zapatista guerrillas. Without seeing any evidence of this, President Moscoso ordered an investigation and vowed to take action against any foreigners who meddle in Panamanian public affairs. Police and journalists have descended upon the area, looking for Subcomandante Marcos's minions or foreign agitators generally. So far no Zapatistas have been located. The only foreigners who have been identified in the area are missionaries and, according to El Panama America reporter Elena Valdés, some Colombians engaged in the illegal extraction of gold along the Cocle del Norte River. Panning for gold has long been a part of the local economy, and Colombian gold prospectors have been a nuisance in several parts of Panama over the past few years.

Unrest in Bocas

Bocas del Toro has seen something of a resurgence of the unrest that boiled over into a general strike last year, a different groups have been protesting around various grievances. Workers at the Bocas Fruit Company walked off the job for several days, resulting in the spoilage of some 35,000 boxes of bananas, mainly over working conditions. Students and teachers at the provincial branch of the University of Panama have walked out to protests dilapidated facilities, and there have also been protests by taxi and bus drivers.

Channel 11 security contract voided

Education Minister Doris Rosas de Mata has cancelled a contract for security guard services at the Canal Once educational television station after a losing bidder complained of irregular procedures and it was revealed that the contract went to a company whose secretary and legal representative is Mrs. Mata's niece.

China wants swindler extradited

The People's Republic of China, with which Panama has no formal relations or extradition treaty, has asked Panama to extradite Quian Hong Lu, a fugitive from a 15-year prison sentence imposed by a Shanghai court and suspect in a $50 million credit card scam. Quian, who was sent to Panama by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service after trying to sneak into the US with a Panamanian passport apparently purchased from corrupt Panamanian immigration officials and a forged US visa, could be executed for financial crimes under Chinese law. Panama has in the past been unwilling to extradite people when there is the possibility of capital punishment being imposed.

Ecuador seeks Bucaram extradition

Ecuador's Supreme Court has asked that country's foreign ministry to seek the extradition of former President Abdalá Bucarám, who has been living in exile in Panama since 1997. The court wants the ex-president to stand trial for alleged fraud in the purchase of backpacks for public school students. Under the Inter-American Anti-Corruption Convention, there could be grounds for extradition, but it is unclear whether that law could be applied because Panama had not ratified that treaty at the time of the alleged crime, or when it granted Bucarám political asylum after he was removed for supposed mental incapacity. Ecuador's legal argument is also weakened by its congress's official finding of mental incompetence, as there are legal restrictions against the trial of mentally incompetent people for crimes in that country. Panama and Ecuador have no extradition treaty.

also in this section: Plan Colombia supply and troop flights to operate from Panama
©2001 The Panama News