Letters to the editor

My family and I moved to Bocas four years ago, and have since built a resort on one of the islands of Bocas del Toro. We've put up with the ever changing rules and regulations, accepting that this is the way things are, i.e. ROP property, usually being charged many times over the local price etc. However, the newest money grab is the Maritime Authority in Bocas is requiring licences for ALL boat operators, which in itself is a good thing. I just want to know if anyone is aware of the fact that a local pays $10 while all others pay $100. Now being charged double or triple is pretty standard, but 10 times is just wrong. This from a government that invited my six-figure investment in Panama.

My son has been trying to find a job here in David, but has no luck. He was born in Panama (is a Panama citizen) but we moved to the states when he was 4 years old and now is 31 years old.. His problem is that he does not speak Spanish. He went to college for CISCO and Microsoft. He is trying to find something in David if possible. Can you tell us the best way for him to find the opportunity to find employment.

Editor’s note: Because of the concentration of economic opportunities in this country in the Panama City metro area, there are plenty of young Spanish-speaking Panamanians coming to the capital from David and other parts of the Interior in search of work. But beyond that observation, I first seriously recommend the learning of Spanish as an essential skill for getting by on our local economy. That has to be an urgent priority. There are subsidiaries of US-based businesses, and local enterprises that cater to English-speaking clients and they may favor a native English-speaker.

Finally, and especially in light of the domination of the national economy by a relatively few families, maybe the best thing for your son to do is to create a job for himself, that is, to find an unfilled niche in the local economy and go into business for himself. This is an amazingly capitalistic place, and what Panamanians who can’t find work traditionally do is find something to sell or some service to provide because we don’t have much of a welfare state safety net here.

I am Lori, I live in Canada. I was in Panama in June/05. I have traveled to many countries but fell in love with Panama. I am always reading the Panama News. I would like to know how it is possible as a foreigner to find work in Panama. In Canada we use the classified section, the Panama news only lists unclassified ads. Is there a way to reach a certain resort? Would there be any type of organization to inquire to? Not sure of the laws and/or economy in Panama.

Editor’s note: Panama is not as welcoming to foreigners who would like to come here and work as is the case with Canada. (And, by the way, it is the editorial position of The Panama News that any Free Trade Area of the Americas worth considering must include the free movement of individuals, as exists within the European Union, and not just the free movement of capital and top management personnel, as in NAFTA.) If you are not a citizen and not married to a Panamanian you must generally show certain special skills to get a work permit, which will be temporary. There is great demand for teachers who are certified in teaching English as a second language, for example. In the tourism industry there are fewer opportunities, although large businesses can hire up to 10 percent foreigners and if you are a properly bilingual Canadian being able to deal with both Anglophones and Francophones might be a skill that could get you in with one of the resort chains. And if you have the money to invest in a business that hires Panamanians, maybe the best bet would be to create your own job.

Most jobs available in Panama are not advertised, and the larger corporations that seek management people by advertising in the English language do not do so in the English-language media because the ad cartel that the president’s father-in-law heads has monopolistic agreements with those media owned by the oligarchic families and companies that use the ad agencies are generally not given the choice of placing their ads where they might be most effective. Most often such notices are placed as display ads in La Prensa or El Panama America, rather in those papers’ classifieds --- that way advertisers are taken for more money by the rabiblanco media and the allied ad cartel.

Most of the larger resorts, especially those which are run by multinational chains, have websites, which have email addresses through which they can be contacted. However, I can’t say whether this is an effective way to look for a job.

This Sunday (October 23) is going to mark an important moment in Brazil's democracy. For the first time in the country's history, the enactment of a law will depend on popular vote. On October 23, Brazilians are going to decide about the following question: "Should the commerce of firearms and ammunition be prohibited in Brazil?".

It is important to understand why this specific law is going to be the subject of a referendum. Gun restriction laws are very questionable and the outcome in a country where 50,000 people are killed every year because of criminal activities are far from predictable. No lawmaker wants to answer for the undesirable consequences that might occur, as it has happened in countries like England and Jamaica. Passing the responsibility to the popular vote is a way Congress found to "wash its hands."

The first problem with the referendum is how they formulated the question. Some say it induces people to vote in favor of the gun prohibition because it gives the illusion that once the law is enacted, guns and, consequentially, criminality will be forever banned from Brazil. As a director of the Gallup Organization admitted: "If they had asked me to formulate the referendum question in a way that the result would favor gun ban, I would have made the exact same sentence that will be presented to the electorate."

However, it is very naive to think that guns and the outstanding crime rates in Brazil will be solved if the prohibition gets through. On the contrary, recent history has shown that a gun ban may be a disastrous experiment. In England, since they banned guns above .22 caliber in 1997, death crimes rose 25% and home invasions, around 40%. When one realizes that Brazil already has seven times more gunshot murders than England, predicting the result might be too frightful a result.

Information of this sort had been omitted from the general knowledge until very recently. According to a poll in early August, 80% of those interviewed approved gun prohibition, while only 17% rejected it. However, the situation has completely changed. According to the latest poll, 49% of the people now are against gun ban, while 45% still favor it. The gap is still too narrow for any predictions, but the numbers are surprisingly different.

What is the reason for such dramatic change? Well, one might point out the Brazilian free media as a main actor. Earlier this month, "VEJA," Brazil's leading magazine, defended the "NO", indicating seven compelling arguments why Brazilians should vote against gun prohibition.

One of the main arguments against gun prohibition advanced by VEJA is that it will disarm only the law obeying citizen. There's no reason to believe that criminals are going to give up their weapons because, by definition, criminals do not obey the law. While domestic handguns may be apprehended, the drug lords' illegal automatic rifles will still be illegal. If the police are able to apprehend them after the law has been enacted, why haven't they done so yet?

Actually, to depend solely on police efficiency for defense and protection is also a thought that haunts Brazilians. Only 10% of Brazilians believe the police can grant them security. They have good reason for their distrust. Ninety percent of the homicides that happen in Brazil are never solved by the police. During the same time that it takes for the Brazilian police to solve one case, the British police solves fourteen.

Farmers are especially worried. More than half of all guns in Brazil are in the countryside, where it is pointless to depend on the police. If farmers have no guns it will be impossible to defend their property from thieves and trespassers. It is also in the country that the Landless Workers Movement plays its attacks. This confessed communist revolutionary movement is famous for invading lands and using violence against farmers. Land owners have to transform their houses into real bunkers to resist the Landless Workers Movement that attack them with guns and Mmlotovs. The movement leader, of course, supports the gun ban.

Still, most artists and celebrities support the prohibition, especially because they will not be very affected by it. They live in high security condominiums, drive bullet-proof vehicles and their personal security guards will still be able to carry guns. The armed-to-the-teeth upper class is not going to be the main target of criminals, but rather the average defenseless citizen who will have to deal with a fearless criminal. The enormous gap between rich and poor in Brazil will become even deeper.

The prevailing argument by the supporters of the new law asserts that it is pointless to use a gun to react to an assault. Criminals have the "surprise element" on their side, which increases the chance of the victim being worse off than if he had not reacted at all. It is a good point, since it is unreasonable to think that the average man will usually defeat skilled criminals in an assault. But so it is to think that buying locks and alarms will prevent a robber from breaking into a house, and we buy them anyway.

The question is not whether the possession of a gun puts someone at an advantage against a murderer, but that gun ownership makes it more risky for someone to engage in crime. As the economist David Friedman explains if thieves knew that when mugging old ladies, they had a 1% chance of getting shot, stealing would become a less attractive activity. Therefore, thieves would have an incentive for engaging in non-criminal jobs. "The problem faced by the potential victim is not how to defeat the aggressor but only how to make aggression unprofitable," says Friedman.

It has also been repeatedly said that most of the criminals' weapons in Brazil had legal origins. A closer look reveals that things are quite different. This conclusion is based on research that counted solely the weapons apprehended by the police, of course. The hardcore weaponry is still out there. Out of all the weapons the police got from criminals, 33% were registered, 28% had criminals' roots, and the other 39% were not bought from contraband, but they were never registered. Never registered! If registration is a condition for legality in Brazil, these 39% were not legal. As the journalist Olavo de Carvalho notes, "Arms with no registration do not come from licit commerce. They are outlaw. To classify them euphemistically as "informal" does not change their condition at all." One can conclude, then, that 72% of criminals' weapons in Brazil had illegal origin. Quite the opposite of what has been said!

The effort to ban guns is only another reason for Brazilians to be suspicious of their government. Since the Workers Party won the presidential elections, they have tried to approve a regulation prohibiting ethical violations in the written media and a national agency to specify what would be the proper content in TV and cinema. They also attempted to make a university reform, in which the decision making power would be taken away from the private university owners and given to community leaders. The Workers Party is also facing the worst corruption crisis in Brazil's history. Party members have been indicted of offering money to other congress members in exchange for their votes. If Brazil is not moving politically closer to Chavez's Venezuela, it is because politicians' moves are being closely followed by the media. Thank the free press.

Editor’s note: As this issue of The Panama News was uploaded, early vote returns indicated that Brazilians rejected the gun ban proposal by a wide margin.

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My name is Jeffrey Krow and I am looking for my wife, Damaris R. Krow. The last I knew she was living in Panama City, Panama. It is important that she contact me as soon as possible. I can be reached at 22388 Card Road, Black River New York 13612; or you can email me at jkrow@twcny.rr.com with any information.

I just thought after enjoying (for the most part anyways) your news for so long, I ought to write to express my appreciation. I have read you with interest for years --- partly to counteract the overly rosy descriptions from the International Living crowd. You didn't, however, scare us away. We bought a house in April in Tocumen. I must say despite my research, we were blindsided by the never ending shortages as well as the deplorable quality of the public water here. Everyone says that Panama is the one place in Central America where you can actually drink the tap water! Not in our neighborhood! We moved as a family (we have two boys in school who are learning Spanish). My husband is a tech guy and consequently frequently working in Europe, where the money is good. I am interested in your book 9 degrees north. Would it be possible to stop by and pick up a copy sometime? There is so much that we don't know about life and history here. Thank you so much for keeping on doing what you do despite the obstacles.

My collection it is over 33,000 postcards from 176 countries but my target is the world’s biggest collection.

I would love to ask you to help me and please send few blank postcards with views from Panama

If someone is looking for friendly Polish family I will answer all letters or emails.

Build a home in Las Cumbres with Villa Concordia --- http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/site/pages/concordia.html
Make the Executive Hotel your headquarters in Panama City --- http://www.executivehotel-panama.com
Find the boat of your dreams through Evermarine --- http://www.evermarine.com
Is Bocas your retirement haven? --- http://www.KodiakBocas.com