news

Also in this section:
Women's groups on alert over Penal Code proposals
Heavy rains, storm surges batter Colon, part of Interior
Shannon visits Panama to talk about bilateral and UN issues
Poisoned medicine probe looks toward Spain and China
Former "Patriot" radio host charges The Panama News editor with defamation
Hobnobbing at a Mexican presidential inauguration
Panama News Briefs

Panama News Briefs

Five cops, one ex-PTJ in shootout with detectives

"Tumbadores" are drug gangs that prey upon the international drug cartels that ship drugs and weapons through Panama, stealing the contraband and selling it for their own profit. Crooked cops play an integral role in the racket, while the drug lords who are preyed upon employ vicious street gangs and their own corrupt public officials for their reprisals. And so it came to pass on December 1 that eight men, including three National Police sergeants, two National Police corporals and a former Judicial Technical Police agent, were surprised by members of the National Police DIIP detective squad at the Clayton Riding Stables attempting to consummate a sale of AK-47 rifles. A shootout ensued in which one of the allegedly crooked cops was wounded. Eight suspects and four vehicles --- one of them a police patrol car and two others police motorcycles --- were seized.

Immigration reform unlikely this year

One of the legislative tasks that has been on the National Assembly's list of things to do all year long won't be addressed in 2006. Immigration reform has not been scheduled for committee hearings before the legislative session ends on December 31 because the ruling PRD caucus can't agree on what to do. There are some obvious issues that include wealthy foreign criminals buying their way into Panama; a large population of undocumented foreign citizens illegally living and working here; fears of a "Colombianization" of our business culture; the creation of new, often fenced-off, American ghettos; the persistent racket of Chinese citizens entering the country by bribery or stealth; a culture of corruption at Migracion; laws that don't pass muster in light of international treaties on the treatment of refugees; vestiges of racial and geographic discrimination in our laws and public policies; and occasional expressions of xenophobia among the populace. With the possible exception of the Chinese, none of the communities that are most affected have asserted any coherent ideas about what sorts of immigration reform ought to be instituted, and meanwhile the legislators have ideas ranging from pragmatic solutions to the current administrative mess to pandering to anti-foreign sentiments to defense of various special interests. Thus the legislature won't try to solve a problem that most Panamanians believe exists until at least next year.

New immigration website

La Migra is now online, in an attempt to answer many of your questions. The new Migracion website can be found at http://www.migracion.gob.pa. One of the features that the new website includes is the application forms for visas in PDF format. Another feature allows foreigners who are marrying Panamanians to make appointments for the required interviews that are intended to discourage fraudulent marriages for the purpose of illegal immigration.

Endara's party picks up dissidents

Now Guillermo Endara and his Vanguardia Moral de la Patria party face the opportunity and threat that all aspiring little parties do in this country. As was the case with Rubén Blades's Papa Egoro and later Ricardo Martinelli's Cambio Democratico, the former president's party in formation has become a magnet for castoffs and dissidents from other parties, as well as those disparate independents looking for a political home. Former MOLIRENA party boss Jesús "Maco" Rosas and a number of his family members and followers recently joined Vanguardia Moral, followed by party-hopping legislator Sergio Gálvez. These additions will no doubt speed the party's inexorable drive to gain ballot status for the 2009 elections, but the price is the baggage of scandals that the Rosas clan brings from the Moscoso administration and the family's dominance of the MOLIRENA party, plus Gálvez's notoriety as the legislator with the worst attendance record in the National Assembly. Critics are bound to say that these are not the sort of people who would be in any genuine moral vanguard.

Toro has competition for PRD presidency

There's another candidate in the race for the PRD party presidency. Juan José Amado III, currently the director of the IDAAN water and sewer utility, says he'll challenge former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares at next year's party leadership elections. Amado is said to be part of President Torrijos's inner circle of friends and advisors, and there's a lot of bad blood between him and Toro Pérez Balladares. Back in 1997 the latter had Amado arrested on embezzlement charges and began moves to have him expelled from the party, but eventually the courts threw out the charges. The whole argument back then was about a trip that Toro took to Japan when Amado was ambassador to that country --- Toro thought that the embassy should have paid for his travel expenses, but it didn't.  The former president is running for the party leadership as part his campaign to become president of Panama again in 2009.

MOLIRENA patching up differences

The Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA), a conservative business-oriented party that typically gets about 10 percent of the national vote, is moving to patch up differences that have torn it apart in recent years. Party leader Gisela Chung met on November 22 with Arturo Vallarino, Olimpo Sáez, Gilberto Sucre, Carlos Cordero and Delia Cárdenas, all founding members of the party and aligned with factions other than Chung's, to bring disaffected people back into the fold. Former presidential candidate Rubén Carles and former Vice President Guillermo Ford, the latter who was purged by Maco Rosas in 2004, were not at the meeting but reportedly look upon the unity movement with favorable eyes.

Panamanian deputy abused PARLACEN

Critics have argued that the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), serves no useful function, except from the point of view of corrupt former presidents of the member countries, who get immunity from investigation and prosecution as members of the institution. But now Panamanian deputy Julio Palacios has shown that there are other uses as well. Palacios recently finished his term as PARLACEN president and the organization finds itself in deep financial trouble. That's largely because Palacios and deputies allied with him spent lavishly on their own travel all over Latin America, Europe and Asia, according to PARLACEN auditors. The financial problems on the Palacios watch also included a sharp increase in spending on paid political ads and the loss of computers and other equipment from PARLACEN headquarters.

Party memberships down

Along with the very low turnout for the October referendum, Panamanians also demonstrated their unhappiness with the system by leaving the organized political parties. From September to October, according to the Electoral Tribunal, a net 1,101 fewer Panamanians belonged to a political party, despite a marked increase in voter registration this year. There were 1,052,577 members of the eight recognized parties in October, out of a national population of about three million and a potential electorate of a little over two million. By far the largest parties are the PRD and the Panameñistas.

Epileptics without medication

After street protests by patients with HIV infections, hemophilia and kidney problems the Torrijos administration promised that the public health care system would take care of the shortages in its pharmacies and provide those with chronic diseases with the medicines they need. But now, a few short weeks later, epileptics are complaining that they can't get the medications they need to control seizures.

Discrepancy in AIDS figures

The United Nations is giving a higher number for HIV infections than the Panamanian government is. According to our national health statistics we have just under 8,000 people living with the virus that causes AIDS, but the UN says that the true number is around 20,000 and has asked Panama to step up its efforts to fight the epidemic.

Prison sentences for abortion

A physician in the Cocle town of El Cope and his young patient have been sent to prison for an abortion performed at a private clinic there. The doctor got a three-year sentence, while the patient was sentenced to 13 months behind bars.

NEXT club closed, to reopen

One of Panama City's more popular --- and louder --- discotheques has been closed by the Ministry of Health, but its owner vows to reopen elsewhere. After a long history of complaints from neighbors, health officials ordered the Avenida Balboa club closed in a precedent-setting exercise of the ministry's recognition that urban noise is a health hazard. In full-page ads the proprietor, who denied wrongdoing, told his faithful partiers that he'll reopen the club in a new location.

New UK ambassador

We have a new British ambassador here. On November 23 Richard Austen presented his credentials at the Ministry of Foreign Relations. As a maritime power the United Kingdom has long had commercial and diplomatic ties here, and in recent years we have been getting some British subjects among the influx of foreign retirees.

Show of force at parade

At the November 28 Independence from Spain parade in La Chorrera the riot cops put on a display with their tear gas and clubs. President Torrijos sent in the riot squad to keep the independent community bands that have been part of these parades for a very long time from participating. In the November 3rd and 4th parades in Panama City the government also excluded a number of traditional contingents. What it's apparently about is a PRD political decision that any group that it does not control is by definition not patriotic and thus not allowed to march in patriotic parades. However, the government says it was a matter of bands not properly registering or showing up in the proper places at the proper times.