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ANAM director rejects environmental study for Mireya's road, steps down
Huge crowd for Alemán rally
Torrijos fires up the campaign workers
Otto Reich warns of corruption's consequences
On the campaign trail
All of the candidates have been nominated




Throngs turn out for Alemán rally

by Eric Jackson


The Alemán campaign claims that 150,000 people attended a January 25 rally at and around Parque Porras, and their number does not seem to be exaggerated. While earlier in his campaign Alemán's shows of public support were mostly in the form of government workers, the Mireyista inner circle and the families of the two previously mentioned groups driving around in their expensive cars and waving Arnulfista flags, this was a mobilization of the party's mass base in the Interior, who were bussed in for the occasion.


By and large the crowd did not seem enthusiastic, with the exceptions generally found among the crews of campaign workers for various candidates for the legislature or for municipal offices. One possibly ominous sign for the Alemán camp was the relative absence of Guaymi dresses --- the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca that encompasses parts of Veraguas, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro provinces has been home to the biggest block of swing voters in the past few elections. The size and composition of the crowd that Alemán assembled also had to have been worrisome for Guillermo Endara, because it's an indication that, while he may have taken away the support of most rank-and-file Arnulfistas in the Panama-Colon metro area from the Mireyista camp, he has not been as successful in the Interior.

Alemán's speech on the occasion detailed promises about job creation, education, sports and other matters, but was notable mainly for its vitriolic denunciations of Martín Torrijos for scandals during prior PRD administrations and of Guillermo Endara as a "traitor."














Also in this section:
Panama news briefs
ANAM director rejects environmental study for Mireya's road, steps down
Huge crowd for Alemán rally
Torrijos fires up the campaign workers
Otto Reich warns of corruption's consequences
On the campaign trail
All of the candidates have been nominated



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