It’s
official, folks. Foreign investors, take note. Interoceanic
Regional Authority director Alfredo Arias is for the theft of a
marina concession proposals from long-time foreign residents of
Panama by an ARI insider because, as he told La Prensa, “we
were dealing with capital in Panama and partners who were also
Panamanians.” And thus Bill Speed, who is retired from the
US Navy and the Panama Canal, lost the marina concession at the
former Fort Sherman that his Isla Sol Marina, SA company had
proposed to an erstwhile supposed partner, former ARI board
member Carlos Valencia.
Speed, who has
at various points in his life lived on boats and has played
various roles in the managment of marinas, put together the
plans for a marina at Fort Sherman, paid for the architectural
work, figured out the details and submitted a bid to ARI.
Because one generally doesn’t get rich by working for Uncle
Sam, he had to seek financing to realize his dream.
Speed thought he
had found the backing he needed when he formed a partnership
with Valencia, a politically connected venture capitalist.
However, Valencia formed another company, Proyectos y Capitales,
SA, photocopied the architectural plans and pages from
Speed’s proposal and submitted it to ARI behind
Speed’s back. ARI rejected Speed’s proposal and
accepted ALMOST the same proposal by Valencia.
Except that in
Speed’s proposal, there were four hectares of land in the
proposal, while in Valencia’s version, there are eight.
“I wonder who gets the other four hectares?” Speed
rhetorically asked.
Speed filed a
civil lawsuit in the Panamanian courts, and in the course of the
proceedings his lawyers have uncovered a series of emails and
memos from ARI’s files that indicate ARI director Alfredo
Arias’s direct and covert involvement in Valencia’s
move to grab the concession, even as Speed’s application
was the only one pending and Valencia was posing as a financier
in good faith.
Before Speed
discovered what had been happening behind his back at ARI,
however, he read a newspaper ad that aroused his suspicions. A
promoter of a cemetery in La Chorrera alleged in the ad that he
had accepted Valencia’s financing, only to be forced out of
the business without compensation. Speed talked to
Valencia’s former partner, then went to Valencia. “I
asked him what was going on, and he got all indignant that I
would even ask. I told him that I could be just as indignant
about him not telling me about it,” Speed said. Then,
Valencia demanded to be the president of Speed’s company,
an offer that was refused. Shortly thereafter, Speed was called
to a meeting with Alfredo Arias, and surprised to see Valencia
there. Arias demanded that Speed drop his proposal, which he
didn’t do. ARI then approved Valencia’s copy of
Speed’s proposal, plus the extra four hectares.
This is at least
the second Fort Sherman development concession that ARI has
taken from one proponent and given to another. The Barcelona-
based Melia hotel chain had the concession to develop a resort
at Devil’s Beach, and now that concession has been taken
from them and given to the Colombian-based Decameron hotel chain
instead.
At a special ARI
board meeting on June 19, Speed’s protest at the theft of
his concession was brushed aside and later that day Comptroller
General Alvin Weeden rushed through the approval of Carlos
Valencia’s new contract.
Arias’s
forthright declaration that he’s for discrimination against
non-Panamanians in ARI concessions, on top of the blatant and
duplicitous nature of this particular transaction, has raised
eyebrows at the US Embassy and will surely increase the
difficulty of attracting foreign investment to Panama. However,
the word has long been out in the business world about the
nature of dealing with ARI, and there haven’t been many
foreign investors willing to deal with Mr. Arias and his
authority lately. But to the Mireyistas, that’s beside the
point --- the name of the game for the remaining year of the
Moscoso administration is to steal everything that can be taken
and let the next government try to clean up the mess.
Editor's note:
Part of this article characterizes the nature of ARI's dealings
in conclusory form, which is in part based on earlier reports in
The Dallas Morning News and La Prensa, both of which outline a
story consistent with what Bill Speed told me by citing
substantially more detail. The Dallas Morning News reports the
story from the angle of how it may affect US-Panamanian
relations and La Prensa reports the ARI special meeting, the
Comptroller General's expedited signature and various statements
by Valencia and Arias that amount to admissions of a substantial
part of Bill Speed's story.
Also in this
section:
Business & Economy Briefs
Panama economic
forecast
Marc Harris under arrest,
controversy continues
ARI uses pseudonationalism
to defend insider theft
