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The North Atlantic and Caribbean hurricane season coincides with Panama's rainy season. We don't usually get hurricanes here, but we're close enough to the region where they do that the big tropical storms tend to suck our rainclouds into the whirlwind and dump the precipitation on points to our north. Thus a hurricane in Florida usually means a respite from the rain in Panama.

Hurricane Charley gave Panama a different kind of a break. Just as that storm was moving into Florida, US and Panamanian trade negotiators were supposed to be sitting down in Tampa to talk about a bilateral free trade agreement. Those talks were postponed until mid-October, due to the storm. Meanwhile, farm, labor and leftist groups had planned to stage a series of protests while the Tampa talks were underway, particularly because President Moscoso had expressed a desire to close a deal during the round of talks that was called off. (The protesting groups are also going to be against a free trade pact if and when the incoming Torrijos administration agrees to one, but the corruption and unpopularity of the Moscoso administration would have made any deal reached in her lame duck weeks far more inflammatory.)

So how did Charley affect Panama? Not only did it brighten our skies for a few days, but it also spared us the inconvenience of riots and street blockades, at least for the time being.

The above photo, by Eric Jackson, is of a wall painting by the student radical group Pensamiento y Acción Transformadora ("Thought and Transformative Action" in English) which summarizes their opposition to the whole concept of bilateral free trade talks.



Also in this section:
Panama News Briefs
Mireya's "mano dura" degenerates into macho taunts
Free trade turmoil postponed by hurricane
Chávez wins big in Venezuela
The Torrijos team

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