The Mireyistas are burning out the last of their public support and looting the public trust while they still can.

They wanted to replace the Interoceanic Regional Authority (ARI) board of directors with an exclusively Mireyista “executive board” to “expedite” the authority’s disposal of properties that Panama acquired under the 1977 Carter-Torrijos Treaties. That was defeated in the legislature, after the ARI board objected and the government offered no coherent reason for the rush. Indeed, a string of bad land use decisions running back several administrations indicates a need for more, not less, deliberation in these matters.

They want to transfer the rest of Coco Solo from ARI to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to be then opaquely reconveyed to Manzanillo International Terminal (Stevedoring Services of America). Now it might be good policy to expand this, Latin America's most efficient seaport. However, as no coherent reason has been given for the transfer to the ministry rather than handling it through ARI, and given a solid record of lack of transparency and decisions against the public interest on the part of Economy and Finance Minister Norberto Delgado, the maneuver is inherently suspect.

They want to take control of Coiba Island National Park from the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) anmd give it to the president's most obsequious cabinet members. The bottom line is that they want to turn an archipelago whose unique natural wonders are something akin to those of the Galapagos to beach mega-resort developers with the "right" family connections.

They quickly set up a “bidding process” for the sale of the presidential beach house at Punta Mala, with one group of Mireyistas effectively bidding on President Mireya Moscoso’s behalf. The head of the Mireyista group bidding for Punta Mala, Tony Domínguez, is currently facing criminal charges for grabbing a concession to develop the former Fort Randolph from a group that already had those rights.

Though there’s no money to actually clean Panama Bay during the remaining months of this administration, they Mireyistas would like to move oh so quickly to tie down the contracts for work that would have to be done during the succeeding administration.

And on and on and on....

The Mireyista candidate for president and Mireya’s erstwhile canal affairs minister and anything they may say about the situation are irrelevant. People are sick of this crowd and their games and the public opinion polls show it. However, what Martín Torrijos and Guillermo Endara and all the various candidates for the Legislative Assembly say is crucial. These are the people who may be stuck with the job of clearing away the rubble after the Moscoso administration's rampage has run its course.

Will they remain silent now and later ratify the looting under the guise of “judicial security” or "alternation in power," or will they warn now that all of Mireya’s crooked deals-in-progress will be voided when she leaves the presidency?

Yes, that would be a severe step. But then the ongoing Mireyista crime wave is also severe, worse than anything we’ve seen since at least Noriega’s time.

Frugality without creativity is deprivation.

Amy Dacyczyn

People unfit for freedom --- who cannot do much with it --- are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have not" type of self.

Eric Hoffer

Somewhere between the Angels and the French lies the rest of humanity.

Mark Twain

Back to top