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More museum heist arrests, but alleged ringleader gets
bail
  
  
Panama News Briefs
Another destabilization plot?
Turn on the
"Mission Impossible" music. Alert the secret agents.
Bring in Sean Connery. Government and Justice Minister Arnulfo
Escalona, most prominent of the extended Escalona tribe that
occupies many highly paid spots on the Moscoso administration
payroll, has discovered another plot to destabilize Panama. The
gist of his accusation is that former Vice-President Ricardo
Arias Calderón, the guru of the opposition junior partner
Partido Popular, has harmed Panama's international financial
reputation by pointing out that the Moscoso administration's
accounting change by which the Panama Canal's surpluses are now
lumped in with the national government's deficits is a means by
which former limitations on the public debt are being
circumvented. "Sadly, Dr. Arias Calderón is playing
with the Panamanian public credit and finances, which, in
addition to being a crime, is an attack against the health and
education of the Panamanian people," the government and
justice minister said. Escalona has referred the case to
National Security Director Ramiro Jarvis. International
financial analysts differ as to whether the new accounting
method is wise, but agree that the Moscoso administration is
running up the public debt. Given that Attorney General
José Antonio Sossa is a political ally of Dr. Arias
Calderón, and that the former vice-president's ill health
and leadership role in the Christian Democratic International
would make his imprisonment the subject of a global outcry,
there is unlikely to be a prosecution in this case.
Víctor Alcázar freed
Accusations made
by President Moscoso and legislator Haydeé Milanés
de Lay that Darien tour guide Víctor Alcázar
helped the Colombian AUC paramilitary attack the communities of
Paya and Pucuro and assassinate four local officials there are
not standing up in court. As a result, on March 11
Alcázar was released from jail after more than one
month's incarceration. In Panama it is difficult to get a
criminal charge dismissed, even a frivolous one, without it
going through a lengthy and costly process. However, in murder
cases if there is any significant evidence at all that a suspect
did it and the accused is not a member of one of a small group
of families privileged with virtual impunity, there is no bail.
Alcázar is from a humble Darien family without much
political influence, and his release came only after no evidence
was turned up to support Moscoso's and Milanés de Lay's
allegations.
Most deputies boycott Legislative Assembly's opening
session
The Panamanian
Constitution clearly specifies that the Legislative Assembly
shall meet in the capital, but the Arnulfista government is
hoping to boost its support in the Interior, so the March 1
opening of the current legislative session was held at the
Normal School in Santiago instead. The school's main hall
features brilliant murals by the late artist and diplomat
Roberto Lewis, and its exterior is considered one of the
masterpieces of Panamanian architecture. Of the 71-member body,
only 41 votes were cast on the day's business, and many of these
were by suplentes rather than legislators. The opposition PRD
and Partido Popular mostly boycotted the session, save for a few
renegade PRD members and some deputies who came to protest but
not participate. Also absent were the members of the Supreme
Court, the Attorney General and the Administrative Prosecutor,
who by custom are supposed to attend such events. Lawsuits have
been filed alleging that those who participated in the session
violated the constitution. Theoretically the participants could
be thrown out of office if found guilty of that offense, but
with the Arnulfistas in control of the Supreme Court that won't
happen.
US troops not going to the Darien
A warning that
Panama is vulnerable to a "narco-terrorist invasion"
by the US Southern Command's General James Hill, along with his
acknowledgment that the Nuevos Horizontes National Guard and
Army Reserve engineering maneuvers is the US military's first
step back into Panama since the bases closed in 1999, have been
interpreted as a sign that the program will be extended into the
Darien. SouthCom, the US Embassy and the Moscoso administration
all say that's a misinterpretation. At the end of this dry
season the Nuevos Horizontes maneuvers currently taking place in
the impoverished Ngobe-Bugle Comarca will terminate, and the
tentative plan is for American troops to be back for more
construction practice in 2005. The details of any work to be
done in 2005 are necessarily sketchy, in part because Panama
will have a new administration and the United States might also
have a different president by then.
Escalona uses US ambassador as stage prop for
partisan attack
The US
government is doing a lot of charity work in the Ngobe-Bugle
Comarca these days, via the military's Nuevos Horizontes program
to give National Guard and Army Reserve engineering units the
practice they need and economically depressed indigenous
communities in Chiriqui the roads, bridges, schools, clinics and
water wells they need. Thus US Ambassador Watt finds herself at
ceremonies with President Moscoso in that part of the country
from time to time. Such was the case on March 13, at the
inauguration of an electrification project in Tole district's
community of El Llano. Government and Justice Minister Arnulfo
Escalona, also in attendance, took advantage of the opportunity
to lash out at PRD leader and 2004 presidential front-runner
Martín Torrijos, who served as deputy minister of
government and justice for a few months during the Pérez
Balladares administration. Escalona faulted Torrijos for not
investigating how funds destined for the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca
were spent under the previous administration and accused the
government that Torrijos briefly served of "losing
territory" along the Colombian border. In a later
appearance in Colon, Torrijos responded that Escalona knew not
of what he spoke and charged that in his role as minister
Escalona has not seen fit to even visit the border area.
Gun runners go to jail
Seven men, four
Panamanians and three Colombians, have received prison sentences
of between 20 and 60 months for their parts in a ring smuggling
military weapons from Central America to the leftist FARC
guerrillas in Colombia. The men were arrested in raids in the
Panama Oeste communities of Bejuco and Arraijan and in Colon in
September of 2000, when more than 500 assault rifles were
seized. One Panamanian and three Colombians are still wanted by
police in connection with the case.
Kidnap search yields arms bust
On March 8,
police searching vehicles on La Chorrera - Arraijan autopista
for a little girl who has been reported kidnapped found
something else in a truck. The driver refused to open the back,
and thus he and the vehicle were taken to the police station.
There the lock was forced open and police found 99 AK-47 assault
rifles, nine Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenade (RPG)
launchers, a submachine gun, four 40mm grenade launchers, four
pistols and lots of ammunition for all of these weapons. The
driver and four other persons were arrested. Police believe that
the arms were headed from Nicaragua to Colombia for use in the
latter country's civil conflict.
Hysteria about child abductions
On February 8 an
18-month-old girl, Mónica Milagros Serrano, was reported
missing by her parents. Since then a woman has been arrested
after she was purportedly identified as having the girl with her
several days later, but the child has not been found. While that
case was unfolding, 18-month-old Joel Lorenzo Martínez
was reported abducted from his home near Penonome. Later the
boy's body was found dumped in a place where he could not have
walked. No arrests have been made in the boy's death, but
circumstances indicate that it may have been a case of death
from abuse by a family member or neighbor, with kidnapping as a
cover story. Sensational coverage of the cases has been
accompanied by rumors of a gang abducting kids to sell their
organs for transplantation in the United States --- a modern
Central American version of the old European blood libel, by
which Jews were falsely accused of kidnapping Christian babies
to use their blood in Passover matzoh. Over the past decade in
Honduras and Guatemala, there have been several Americans
lynched over bogus kidnapping for transplantation allegations.
Meanwhile in Panama, all contacts between children and strangers
are being viewed as suspicious by many people and the schools
are reassuring parents that special measures will be taken to
prevent abductions.
Bishop protests slight to Colon
The Presidential
Centennial Commission, headed by former foreign minister and
current presidential candidate José Miguel Alemán,
has issued a calendar of official events for November of this
year, one that excludes the traditional November 5 observance of
the 1903 surrender of Colon's Colombian garrison. Colon's
Catholic bishop, Monsignior Carlos María Aríz,
then issued a strongly-worded protest of what he saw as a slight
to the predominantly black city. However, a spokesman for the
commission, whose official caricature of Panamanian history
pretty much denies the role of black people, said that the
omission was an oversight that will be corrected. However, it
seems that instead of the usual observance in Colon the nation's
dignitaries will converge on the Cocle town of Nata on November
5, to pay homage to that community's relatively minor role in
Panamanian independence. In political terms, Nata usually votes
Arnulfista while Colon is usually a PRD stronghold.
More antiwar protests
On March 15
several hundred people marched through Panama City in another
protest against the prospect of a US-UK invasion of Iraq. It was
one of a number of subdued peace activities during recent weeks,
which included a prayer services in several locations. Polls,
opinion columns, talk show conversations and other indicators
suggest that, although passions are not inflamed about the
subject, most Panamanians are against the prospective war. That
would put Panama in the mainstream of world opinion. The Moscoso
administration and opposition politicians have had little to say
about the subject.
Truth Commission recovers remains of Eriberto
Manzo
The Truth
Commission has found the remains of two people in an unmarked
grave in the Amador Cemetery, and identified one of the deceased
as those of Arnulfista activist Eriberto Manzo. The other body
is believed to be that of another Arnulfista leader, Dorita
Moreno, but DNA tests are underway to confirm or disprove that
presumption. Manzo and Moreno were part of a small band that
attempted to set up guerrilla resistance to the military
dictatorship that overthrew President Arnulfo Arias in October
of 1968, and are said to have been killed in a clash with the
now defunct Guardia Nacional at Las Huacas de Quije.
Drug plane goes down off of Costa Arriba
A low-flying
drug-laden plane that surreptitiously entered Panamanian
airspace from Colombia ditched in the Caribbean Sea off of the
coastal Colon district of Santa Isabel on February 27. At least
two people who were aboard the plane died, but somebody got away
in a life raft and a local teenager who was fishing in the area
when the plane went down was later found murdered, apparently by
the drug traffickers.
TV analyst's contempt sentence quashed, judge under
investigation
Television
commentator and attorney Carlos Zavala has had his six-day
contempt sentence overturned on appeal, and the judge who handed
it down is now under investigation. In an RCM news channel
broadcast Zavala had characterized a decision by Circuit Judge
Jorge Isaac Escobar as corrupt, whereupon the judge sentenced
him to jail for contempt. However, the contempt law under which
Zavala was sentenced was for disrespectful acts in the presence
of the court, which his statements were not. Now Escobar is
under investigation by the Supreme Court for possible abuse of
authority.
Radio show host gets 20 months for defamation
Radio show host
Gaspar Arosemena, who's married to La Chorrera Mayor Yolanda
Villa de Arosemena, has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for
criminally defaming his wife's one-time running mate, former
Mayor Brenda De Icaza. Arosemena offended De Icaza with remarks
made on his radio show on the La Nueva Exitosa station. It seems
that the judgment by Judge Alina Oviedo was not based upon
factual misrepresentation but "offensive epithets" in
Arosemena's discourse. However, under the plain meaning of the
calumnia e injuria (criminal defamation) law, offensive epithets
are not in themselves crimes if they do not contain untrue and
disparaging allegations of fact.
La Prensa reporters face trial
A July trial
date has been set for La Prensa reporters Julio César
Aizprúa and Rafael Pérez G., who are accused of
criminally defaming Naves Supply, a company that handles wastes
from ships and yachts. In a February 2002 story the reporters
alleged that the company's operations pollute Panama's waters
and coasts and that safeguards to prevent health problems are
inadequate. The company says it meets all the legal requirements
and has licenses and inspection records to show that it does.
The journalists say that they reported the truth, and it's not
very clear in which way the company says that they didn't. On
the face of it, it seems that a newspaper's treatment of
questions about what levels of contamination ought to be
acceptable has become the subject of a criminal case, and that
the legality of any environmental reporting in Panama is at
stake.
Ngobe and Bugle get a new general cacique
After more than
40 years on the job, Ngobe-Bugle General Cacique Camilo Ortega
is stepping down. In March 2 elections members of the two
related indigenous nations elected Máximo Saldaña
as the new leader of the Ngobe-Bugle General Congress. The
General Cacique has few formal legal powers, but traditionally
wields a great deal of influence. Also elected on March 2 were
new regional caciques for the three parts of the comarca that
are within Veraguas, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro provinces.
Naso may get their own comarca
Panama's Naso
indigenous nation, some 20,000 strong and situated around the
Teribe River in Bocas del Toro's Changuinola district, may soon
get their own semi-autonomous commonwealth, or comarca. The
Legislative Assembly is debating a proposal to create a 129,000-
hectare Naso Tjer Di Comarca. The Naso are the only people in
the Americas ruled by a monarch, a king who is elected from
among the members of the extended Santana royal family. The
proposal will give the king certain powers within the comarca,
and various rights in cases before the national courts that
involve Naso people. The king and general council will have
limited powers to make the local budget and impose taxes.
RP exports national bird
Panama's captive
breeding program for our endangered national bird, the harpy
eagle, may reintroduce the raptors to parts of their old range
well beyond this country's borders. The program, a cooperative
affair involving the National Environmental Authority (ANAM),
the Miami Zoo and Panama City's Parque Summit municipal zoo, has
sent harpy chicks to Belize and Costa Rica, where the birds are
extinct. If all goes well wild harpy eagles populations will be
re-established in the forests of those countries.
Creative TV ad history
Arnulfista
presidential hopeful Marco Ameglio, a member of the Legislative
Assembly since 1994, is running TV ads claiming to have
experience "creating jobs during 20 years as a
legislator." The commercials are aimed at boosting his
standings in public opinion polls, which could then be used to
convince delegates to the Arnulfista nominating convention ---
actually one delegate, Mireya Moscoso, who will control the
others --- to pick him as the party's 2004 standard bearer.
Hmmmm --- with the national unemployment rate up under this
government, how many jobs? Within the small world of Arnulfista
activists, the current government HAS created jobs. Whether
legislators can reasonably take credit is another question.
PRD renegades suggest constitutional changes
Legislative
Assembly president Carlos Alvarado and his aide Mitchel Doens, a
former labor minister and now a dark horse PRD presidential
primary candidate, have proposed a package of constitutional
reforms that they would like to see the assembly take up during
this session. The most notable suggested reforms are the
possibility of reforming the constitution by way of a
constituent assembly, the elimination of legislative second
suplentes and the abolition of the office of second vice-
president. Alvarado would like to hold a referendum on
constitutional changes at the same time as the May 2004 general
elections. The chances of obtaining the votes in the legislature
and the presidential signature needed to hold such a referendum
are remote.
Number two at the Passport Office sacked
Ilsia de
Córdoba, who was second in command at the Passport
Office, has been fired and is under police investigation for
improprieties in the issuance of Panamanian passports. For many
years passports have been illegally for sale, to the extent that
they have been advertised on the Internet and US immigration
officials have encountered Chinese citizens who speak not a word
of Spanish trying to enter the United States on Panamanian
passports.
City council meets at Parque Metropolitano
On March 11,
Panama's City Council moved its regular meeting from the usual
place to the headquarters of the Parque Metropolitano Natural on
Via Juan Pablo II. Panama is nearly unique in the world for
having such a wild area within the limits of its capital city,
but the park faces serious problems. Encroaching development,
increased traffic around its periphery that takes an ever-
growing toll on its animals, non-payment of subsidies by a cash-
strapped municipal government and defaults in compensation owed
for the taking of part of the park for the Corredor Norte toll
road have all added to the park's woes. Lack of money to hire
sufficient park wardens has left it more vulnerable to poaching,
dumping and mugging. However, the park's executive director,
Felix Wing, estimates that the council meeting at the park has
helped city officials gain a better understanding of the park
and its needs.
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