René Van Hoorde, the former director of Enron Caribe, the subsidiary of the bankrupt Houston-based company that runs the Bahia Las Minas power plant near Colon, has declined to answer any questions put to him by The Panama News. Meanwhile Van Hoorde, who went from being director of maritime operations for the old Panama Canal Commission to head Enron in Panama, then left Enron late last year to head the department of Panama´s Ministry of Commerce and Industry that deals with Enron and other privatized industries, is jumping back to the private sector, has taken a job as general manager of Elektra Noreste, one of the privatized electric companies with whom he dealt for the government.

"Really, I don´t manage this situation," Van Hoorde said. "Now I´m general manager of Elektra Noreste, and I prefer not to comment about Bahia Las Minas. I would gladly talk about the new post I have assumed, but not about Bahia Las Minas. For me this is a closed case.¨"

Van Hoorde referred questions about the Bahia Las Minas plant to Enron´s new mangers here, Max Kelly and Javier Borrero, who both declined to talk to us.

When Van Hoorde ran Enron’s operations in Panama, the Panamanian government gave the company a 15 percent rebate on the sale price. He was also at the helm when an ambitious plan to import Colombian gas by way of an undersea pipleline from Cartagena to Las Minas collapsed, amid allegations of corruption and conflict of interest that forced the project’s cancellation and the resignation of Colombia’s energy and mines minister at the time, Luis Carlos Valenzuela.

In remarks at a ceremony where he took the helm at Elektra Noreste, Van Hoorde told the company’s managers that "by accepting the challenge to lead this business, I have made a solid commitment of integrity for our customers, our human resources, our partners and our country." He also promised better customer service and noted $60 million in investments that the company has made here.

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