I enjoyed your "Isthmus Road Runners" edition, with coverage, photos and links to our website. The club is in its twenty-eighth year of organizing runs for the Panamanian running population.

Allen Jones
Webmaster
Panamamarathon.com

Editor's note: We would like to run more such stories, but The Panama News does not have the resources to cover the Panamanian sports scene the way it ought to be covered. Clubs and individuals who do participate in sports can help us play the role of community newspaper by sending us photos, articles and calendar information about upcoming sports events.

In reference to your published letter of January 12, 2003, signed by Caroline Hunter questioning Citigroup's operation in Israel, allow me to share with your readers the following information. Citigroup opened its doors in Israel two years ago with a Corporate and Investment banking operation. In this short time, we have become the seventh largest bank in Israel and the only foreign bank mandated to handle the Jewish Slave Labor payments. We do not however, have a retail banking operation yet and as a result are unable to offer individual retail products (such as the one indicated in Ms. Hunter's letter) at this time.

Aida A. de Chevalier
VP Public Affairs, Citibank Panama

Robert Pelton is one of the most widely known journalists in the world --- the fact that the AUC kidnapped him and his group does not bode well for his survival. This will only cast an even more negative image on Panama by the US press even though this occurred in the Darrian Region. But this is just another in a series of Colombians invading Panama and treating it as their own lawless country. Our firm is still looking at Panama City but we must have some stability both internally (politically and legally) before we invest in your country. Please keep us all posted on this breaking news as many of us in the US & Canada are keenly concerned about the Pelton kidnapping.

Name withheld

In the event war comes to the Korean Peninsula what are the chances that American warships would be denied access to the canal? If denied, would it be by Chinese or Panamanians? Does the government of Panama understand that in such an event the United States would have no choice but to seize back the canal? Also, have you noticed any increase in Chinese males under the age of thirty entering Panama? Many reports are surfacing of containers being offloaded and stored in secret locations across Panama by Chinese personnel. Finally, in the event of hostilities between China and the United States will Panama side with us or with China?

Valerie Sessions
USA

Editor's note: We frequently get letters of this kind. Except for the probability that China, like all great powers, probably has spies here, there are no Chinese military personnel in Panama. China has nothing whatsoever to do with the running of the Panama Canal. Panama doesn't even have diplomatic relations with China, which is China's decision because we maintain formal ties with Taiwan. If secret containers are being secretly offloaded and secreted around Panama by Chinese secret agents, that's a secret about which The Panama News has no knowledge. The illegal migration of Chinese citizens to and through Panama is not a secret --- it is and traditionally has been a lucrative business for our crooked political elites. By treaty US warships go to the head of the line to transit the Panama Canal and it's very unlikely that Panama would renege on this commitment.

I really enjoyed surfing through your online newspaper. It really is first rate. You cannot compare it to AM Costa Rica, which is working very hard to lose its expat readers in Costa Rica where I have been living for the last eight years. The Tico Times has also done a lot of damage to their readers and is losing a lot of the loyalty they had for years. There is a new one which you may not be aware of called Inside Costa Rica which seems to be a very popular newcomer.

I am currently looking for any information I can find on Panama since I will be relocating there in the next month or so. Costa Rica seems to be on a witch hunt for foreigners who have overstayed their three-month visa. This is not a major concern to me since my Tica girlfriend has been pleading to marry for three years now and that would solve that problem. The real problem is the government and the economy, which is rapidly going down the tubes in a very big way. I was wondering if you could let me know what the job situation is like for bilingual expats in Panama and the best places to look for living accommodations in Panama.

Thanks

Gordon Doney

Editor's note: To legally work as a foreigner in Panama, one must generally possess skills unavailable in the Panamanian labor market, or have the money to invest in a business that will hire local people. There are exceptions to this. What's the "best place" to live in Panama is a matter of money, travel implications and taste. We have lots of possibilities in many price ranges. In many cases, rents and real estate prices go up when an American is known to be the potential customer. Whether this is flat-out xenophobia or just an ignorant presumption that all Americans are rich, you should be prepared to walk out of any business negotiation in which you encounter this practice.