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opinionAlso in this section:
Endara, An unworthy public safety law Birns and Sánchez, Who rules Mexico: the government or the drug lords? Leis, Sex education in the Panamanian schools Jackson, If the PRD is a political patronage machine... Gutman, Imus: obnoxious racist banter and political correctness
Reject the proposed Law 292 on public saftey by Guillermo Endara G. The uncontainable increase in citizens' insecurity, which goes against what President Torrijos had made us believe would be one of the principal pillars of his administration ("+seguridad"), is a palpable fact that only fools dare to deny and, instead of a coherent program to confront this scourge, the executive proposes a series of measures that haven't been thought out, born of improvisation and of obfuscation that has caused great civic pressure. Thus Vanguardia Moral de la Patria has recently proposed to all the active forces in the country --- civic clubs, professional groups, unions, associations, including all the political parties --- a grand march to demand the basic security that the government must provide, which isn't seen in any of the measures proposed. On the contrary, we observe in them the latent danger of excesses and abuses that can break out under it aegis to make life and tranquility even more insecure for Panamanians. As a consequence we wholeheartedly support and join in the protest demonstrations of all the citizens' groups that are justly indignant and inflamed by the folly that the legislature is attempting to approve. The great blindness of the president and his deputies' proposal is that it's neither technically acceptable, nor does is give due importance to the prevention of crime by attacking its causes and improving the dehumanizing environment in which it grows, nor to the rehabilitation of adolescent or adult delinquents who presently perfect their techniques while crowded into specialized crime schools that the government runs. Instead, it concentrates all attention on outrageous measures for persecution for which we will all pay for all sins from now on --- not only the wrongdoers who will continue to threaten our physical integrity by freely invading our homes and workplaces and accosting us on the streets, but also by authorities who will have writs to do the same, virtually at their whim, at any hour of the day or night, for reasons well founded or invented, under the pretext of pursuing criminals or investigating crimes. It should be enough to recall the so-called Vagrancy Law, the purpose of which originally was to fight vagrancy but in its applied practice became the uncontrolled arrest of political opponents, who were then punished left and right by the dictatorship's submissive corregidores and night judges --- that's what they're trying to do now. Far from protecting the citizenry as is its obligation, the administration attempts to aggravate the public's vulnerability and worsen its helplessness. As Panamanians conscious of our right and of the consequent duty of those who hold power, we can't allow these measures, which are based in their backers' unbridled ambitions. We demand that the administration give us real and effective solutions and not those that usurp the citizens' peace and tranquility, and live up to a principle that they led us to believe they had but are now demonstrating that they never had.
The author was president of Panama from 1989 until 1994.
Also in this section:
Endara, An unworthy public safety law Birns and Sánchez, Who rules Mexico: the government or the drug lords? Leis, Sex education in the Panamanian schools Jackson, If the PRD is a political patronage machine... Gutman, Imus: obnoxious racist banter and political correctness Unclassified Ads | Calendar | Outdoors | Dining | Science | Sports | Español | Front Page Archives | Wappin' Radio Show | Just Music
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