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photo by Eric Jackson

The business of this girl's education...

When The Panama News pays attention to the teaching of this nation's 11-year-olds, most often it's found in the business and economy section. In the larger picture, there is no bigger story playing itself out in this country than the economic development or lack thereof, and hardly anything compares in importance to Panama's development with the sort of education that the younger generation gets.

This girl, however, is a special case. Milagros Blades is a musical prodigy who's capable of showing fellow percussionists twice her age and more how the tambor is played, to their saturation points and beyond. (Let me not denigrate teaching, however. It's not true that those who can't do teach instead. Teaching is a particular craft in itself and few brilliant young musicians become as competent at passing on their knowledge anywhere nearly as quickly as they pick up their skills on their instruments.)

Now whatever nasty things one might truthfully say about the Torrijos administration, it deserves credit for the efforts that the first lady and the Ministry of Education are making to improve educational opportunities to kids with physical handicaps and learning disabilities. But gifted children like Milagros Blades are also examples of special educational needs to which society ought to pay attention.

To the extent that the national government and Panama City's municipal administration were co-sponsors of the Panama Jazz Festival, they did pitch in for the cause of educating the gifted. However, the private efforts of many people and businesses, from Panamanian car dealerships to prestigious American educational institutions and above all of renowned Panamanian jazz pianist Danilo Pérez Jr. were what made this event a big success.

It could be covered as a business story from so many different angles, from good advertising in the national market to tourism promotion to paying gigs for hand-to-mouth local talents. While waiting to ask guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel a question, I even happened upon his polite rejection of a release clause that would have assigned rights in perpetuity. (Talk about a gringa oblivious to the history of where she was and the local significance of that phrase could be endless, and in fact we just passed the date upon which Panamanians are called upon to reflect upon this.)

But then, after you have heard Rosenwinkel do neo-bebop on his electric guitar, you'd seem awfully crass to try to reduce that down to dollars and cents. Yes, there is an industry built around incredible sounds like those that Randy Weston, Neil Clarke and Alex Blake made at ATLAPA, and learning how to deal with that business will be an important part of Ms. Blades's education. But the written story is in the review section, and we have two sets of festival photos in the arts and fun sections respectively.

I didn't catch everything about the festival, and neither did any other reporter. I was brought up on jazz but have no musical education, and have long yearned for a regular contributor with sophistication in that field of mathematics that's music who can give The Panama News a more erudite coverage of the field. I make do as best I can, and I hope that you find something informative and entertaining from the hours I spent covering the festival, hours that ultimately made this issue's production run later than usual.

A lot of other things have been happening.

The ninth round of free trade talks between Panama and the United States failed to produce an agreement, but did prompt a minister's resignation, a disquieting revelation about the Torrijos administration's opacity and the drawing of battle lines over the subject matter. The debate over free trade forms the core of our Spanish-language opinion section, which includes US Ambassador Eaton's remarks to the local American Chamber of Commerce, which despite its name has a primarily Panamanian membership, FRENADESO's diametrically opposite view and an Uruguayan perspective that sheds some light on the dynamics of a developing MERCOSUR alternative to the NAFTA-based model that the US government is promoting.

Ancon Hill, the national park that rises above our capital's city center, is the locus of controversies over a proposed cable car and flag etiquette that dominate this issue's news section and is the subject of Raúl Leis's column this time.

A late breaking development has caused me to rewrite a business story. A round of price increases sweeping through the Panamanian economy in the wake of an electric rate increase --- 32 percent for commercial and industrial customers --- has prompted government action to cancel the electric companies' windfall. The phenomenon of regulated industries taking over the bodies that are supposed to regulate them is by no means uniquely Panamanian, but in this case it was done so brazenly and so obnoxiously that decidedly unradical social sectors were filling our airwaves with strident declarations and dire warnings, and the Torrijos administration appears to be on the verge of taking away privileges that Mireya, acting upon the recommendation of a former ENRON executive, bestowed upon the utilities.

We get into both the science of malaria cures and science fiction this time. We question a notorious international manipulator's ties with Panama, and welcome a new restaurant whose owner appreciates the joys and subtleties of Italian sausage. The Iraq War is considered from the point of view of US Catholic bishops, and in light of US and insurgent outrages against the press.

Although it's coming to you a bit late, you will find that this issue is a bit larger than usual. That's in part a function of how much has been going on, and also an indication of the growth of The Panama News in the direction of becoming a true community newspaper.

Enjoy.

Eric Jackson
the editor