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News
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Volume
14, Number 8 |
Also in
this section:
The
economic crisis
and the Panama Canal by Marco A. Gandásegui, hijo The economic crisis, which is centered in the United States, is tending to sharpen as the contradictions in capitalist development sharpen on a world scale. In Washington they are taking measures --- although timid ones --- to deal with the situation and the rest of the world is elaborating strategies to confront the problem. Meanwhile in Panama, the government sticks its head in the sand and hopes that it will go away without greater consequences. It's the governments' traditional policy to think only in short-term business. In the end, the workers in particular and the Panamanian people in general are the ones who pay for the multi-million-dollar losses caused by bad governance. In a recent communique, the Sovereign Panama Front (FPS) stated that "the economic policy of the North American government and its militarism have created the conditions for that country to fall into a recession." During a recession the productive forces are obliged to paralyze their activities, the workers lose their jobs and the banks restrict their activities for fear of the risks. At this point, the United States has two alternatives: on the one hand, to put a ceiling on credit available to speculators, returning to a productive policy; on the other, to ask its creditors (China, Europe and others) to extend the terms for the repayment of its debts. The last several governments of Panama have played Russian roulette by negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States (which is bogged down in the US Congress) and signing military accords. The riskiest bet of them all for Panama has been the government's promotion of a Panama Canal expansion with a starting cost of $5.25 billion. The fundamental criticism that the FPS has of the national government stems from its erroneous consideration "that the expansion constitutes no risk because of the structure of world maritime in recent five-years periods." Starting in the decade of the 90s, China added to Japan as a principal US trading partner that uses the canal. On the basis of the rise of this Asian giant, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) projected an annual growth rate of 10 percent through 2020. On this mistaken prognosis the ACP justified all of its calculations for the construction of a new set of locks. The head of marketing for the ACP, Rodolfo Sabonge, has now announced that the route will lose its vigor in the 2007-2008 period. He predicts, to calm the investors, that beginning in 2009 business will return to normal. According to the FPS, "Sabonge has lost sight of the reality that trade between China and the USA can't return to its previous rate of growth." The FPS adds that "if Panama doesn't take corrective measures, the country will be harmed by coming changes. The solution is to suspend the project to build the new locks. To the financial crisis will be added the underestimation of costs of the proposed canal expansion, as well as the opening of Arctic routes." The FPS concludes that "the government of Panama has the obligation to incorporate the canal's future into a national development plan, in order to guarantee that its proceeds help generate wealth throughout the national territory and protect us against the international crises that repeat in a cyclic fashion." Also in this section: Editorial, Self-proclaimed terrorists are the least of our problems Bernal, Independent candidates Gandásegui, The economic crisis and the Panama Canal Leis, Education and democracy Avnery, Manifest Destiny? Committee to Protect Journalists, Iraqi photojournalist released after two years Pilgrim, Housing problems in the Caribbean Powdar, Colombia spreads insecurity around Green, Colombia's most fateful assassination Weisbrot, An isolated Bush cries "terrorism" McGillion & Morley, Washington blind to changes in Cuba Lerner, Obama's error Jackson, Cracks in the stone wall Letters to the editor News
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©
2008 by Eric Jackson email: editor@thepanamanews.com or phone: (507) 6-632-6343 Mailing
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