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It has been more than one year since The Panama News has published a print edition. On or about May 6, we will appear on the news stands again, in a glossy-covered magazine format special edition.
The content in our print edition, the cover of which you see above, won't be online. The magazine's cover story is about how tree rings on ship timbers may tell scientists a lot about that ship off of Playa Dama --- maybe even whether it is indeed Christopher Columbus's Vizcaina --- and may also tell us about the maritime economy of Europe five centuries ago. We also feature the tale of one of Enron's adventures in Panama, an Earl Patrick Watson photo story on a Lady of the Night, a look at the Truth Commission's work and what it means for both the cause of human rights and the state of the forensic sciences in Panama, reviews of the Steinbock restaurant and a recent musical summit of Luis Arteaga and his talented friends, Emily Zhukov's coverage of this year's Portobelo Triathlon, a Sparky the Wonder Dog treat and more.
We'll be lucky if this project makes a profit --- it's still a brutal environment in which to sell advertising --- but if things go well we will have another special print edition in September or October. Who knows? Maybe we'll get an ad contract, a grant or the right kind of investor, and be back into a regular print schedule before we expect. But on the other hand, we still have serious debts (including to Seguro Social and the city), Panama's economy is still bad, and we're by no means out of our hole yet.
The special print issue will be sold for $1, or $2 by mail to the United States. We didn't sell enough ads to break even, nor did we expect to do so. We have to bring in money from news stand sales in order to cover our costs. Getcha! Wuxtry! Read all about it!
But anyway, that's THAT issue, and this is THIS one.
The News this time is dominated by scandals --- again --- most particularly allegations that the Panamanian National Police were involved in a huge shipment of weapons to Colombia's ultra-vicious, drug-financed AUC paramilitary. Panama's president and police chief deny all, and promise to investigate their own conduct. At the moment the police in Nicaragua and Panama are trading charges, but there are indications that, even if they were knowingly complicit, they may have still been minor players in the whole affair.
Our Letters section is dominated by the Middle East, and in particular reactions to an illustrated letter in the last edition. Did the pictures show a cold-blooded political assassination, or a heroic defense against a bloodthirsty suicide bomber? The arguments continue, as does, in some corners, the search for a just and enduring end to all the horror in the Holy Land.
In the Opinion section, we get into American foreign policy, Swiss banking and Panamanian reactions to the coup attempt in Venezuela. Our Science page takes a cosmic look at the Panama Canal and environs. This time the Dining page takes us to a very good Italian restaurant in El Cangrejo.
Meanwhile, given our style and resources, many a story of great importance is treated with but a summary in the News Briefs or the Business & Economy Briefs. We like to do as much original reporting as possible, but an important part of what we do at The Panama News is to summarize all the main events. So much is going on at the moment, and thus you will find more items in our briefs this time.
One positive thing that has happened recently is the passage of a law barring racial discrimination in Panama's bars, discotheques, restaurants and other places of public accomodation. The Legsislative Assembly passed it, President Moscoso signed it, and let's hope that it gets enforced. The worst thing about the whole "whites only" club scene is that the very kids who are into it are also the ones who think that they have the hereditary right to run Panama's government and economy. To the extent that it's actually true, you don't have to look very far to see the cause of a large part of this country's problems. Anyway, the law's complete text is published in our Spanish-language section.
Also for our Spanish readers, we have an exchange of angry letters between the President's office and the Latin American anti-corruption magazine Probidad. The latter listed Mireya Moscoso in its gallery of corrupt Latin American politicians, and she and her supporters have taken offense. Looking at it as someone with a legal education, I could understand the president and her followers complaining that allegations are being treated as facts. But that's not their argument --- their approach is an arrogant "who are you?" line of personal attack, and if they want to say that the scandals swirling aroung the president are mere accusations they would be more credible when saying this if they practiced even a little bit of transparency.
There is a Palestinian proverb, one that Arabs and Jews and Panamanians should all keep in mind during times like these:
Darkness never lasts.
Onward, my friends, into the light.
the editor
