Panama News Briefs

In the midst of an election season, the Electoral Tribunal says that it will submit a new code of electoral law procedures to the National Assembly sometime around the end of November. That would mean that the changes would be part of the late December legislative rush, when amendments to proposed laws are frequently submitted in the middle of the night and the public doesn't know what happened until the changes are published in the Gaceta Oficial some weeks into the new year. However, the code of procedure would not take effect until after next year's elections, so if it ends up with too many controversial provisions the election results might change it before it takes effect.

Colon city hall raided

On October 22 election prosecutors swept into Colon's municipal office building, went into Mayor Antonio Latiff's office and took away a personal computer. The raid was sparked by a complaint that municipal resources were used to back candidates in the PRD primary election contests.

Noriega's banker back to jail

Rafael Arosemena, who headed the Banco Nacional de Panama during Noriega times, is back behind bars, in the minimum security El Renacer Penitentiary near Gamboa. For many years exiled in Mexico, Arosemena came back to Panama with the hope of appealing sentences that were handed down against him in absentia for the disappearance of some $14 million from the state-owned bank. After an initial few days in jail, Arosemena got a medical leave to let him serve time under house arrest, but then doctors from the Institute of Legal Medicine determined that the elderly Norieguista had no valid medical reason not to go back to jail.

Pressure mounts on government over Noriega auction

Martín Torrijos is against any compensation for people who were jailed, tortured, or exiled, or the survivors of those who were murdered, by the dictatorship that ruled this country for more than 21 years. The property of the last of the dictators, Manuel Antonio Noriega, is scheduled to go on the Ministry of Economy and Finance auction block on October 30, and the plan had been to put that money into the government's general fund. Now, however, victims and the families of victims --- both those who were aggrieved when Noriega was dictator and those who suffered under President Torrijos's father, General Omar Torrijos, by way of Noriega, the G-2 espionage and torture unit head whom the elder Torrijos called "my gangster" --- are demanding, both through the courts and politically, that the proceeds of the sale go to compensate people with claims against Noriega. Human rights and civic groups are swinging behind the cause as well. It seems, however, that Martín Torrijos is set on blocking compensation for anyone who was tortured or murdered by his daddy and his daddy's friends.

Martinelli not insane

"I'm not crazy," presidential candidate Ricardo Martinelli declared to the national news media on October 18. He also denied that he is taking psychiatric medications. The declarations were in response to a series of allegations, most veiled and some not, about Martinelli being treated for bipolar affective disorder. The allegation or insinuation, when signed, is asserted by people with no professional medical, psychological or psychiatric credentials nor for that matter any record of noteworthy accomplishments in any field. The conclusion that people are supposed to draw is that Martinelli, who has served as Seguro Social director and Minister of Canal Affairs as well as having built and run a supermarket empire, is medically incapable of doing the job of president of Panama. Count this as an act of desperation by supporters of his rivals, now that some polls show Martinelli as the front runner in the presidential race.

Balbina's publicist reportedly broken into

Balbina Herrera's campaign propaganda is run by the Quimica ad agency, and there was a reported break-in at the agency over the weekend of October 11 and 12. It is alleged that the intruder was trying to get sensitive information from the Herrera campaign. So far there have been no arrests of either the alleged intruder --- said to have been recorded on a security video camera on the premises --- or of an alleged intellectual author.

Juan Carlos Varela, the union members' friend?

In many respects Panamanian politics don't break down according to criteria found in other places. Take Juan Carlos Varela, the candidate of a party that has its roots in a 1920s movement that went around decked out in white robes and hoods like the Ku Klux Klan and had a racist platform to match. He's the scion of the nation's main liquor distilling fortune. He's taking a religious right approach to many social issues. But on the other hand, the Panameñista candidate says that if he's elected he'll work closely with labor unions and the organizations of the poor. Well, he's also of the party that gave women the vote and opposed the dictatorship whose goons killed a number of labor activists. Whether organized labor would consider Varela a friend is another matter, but he is reaching out.

Magistrates reconsider on home cameras

Does The Panama News know much about the protection that Electoral Tribunal magistrates get? Do you think that we would publish it if we did? The answer is negative in each instance. They do have bodyguards of some sort. But the question arose whether their homes should be protected by expensive alarm and camera systems, and at first the three magistrates decided to buy these. However, they changed their minds as to the systems for their homes. They are, however, still looking for better electronic protection for the Electoral Tribunal buildings.

Hantavirus death in Cocle

A 17-year-old high school student from Nata has died of a hantavirus infection. The death this past September was identified a month later after a series of tests on tissues taken from the body at the Gorgas Institute. Hantavirus is spread when field mice and other normally outdoor rodents invade spaces where people live or work. This was the sixth hantavirus case, and the third death from that cause, in Cocle province this year.

Rash of infant deaths in the comarca

Local residents say that least 15 children have died in recent weeks in the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca and adjacent areas of Veraguas province north of Santa Fe, of ailments that include respiratory symptoms and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea. The Ministry of Health has sent investigators, but in past such outbreaks has dismissed public concerns about an epidemic, saying that the kids are dying because of a combination of malnutrition and whatever ordinary illness that comes along.

Yellow fever shots optional, but...

As reported in an update to the last issue, after amazing confusion the Torrijos administration announced that yellow fever shots for passengers coming into and going out of Panama are not required and only recommended for those traveling to or from countries that currently have active risks of yellow fever transmission (all of northern South America, through Brazil and into northern Argentina, or for those visitors planning to go into Kuna Yala, Darien province or the Chepo district of Panama province. Notwithstanding the government's backtracking, we have received reports of certain government officials demanding proof of yellow fever inoculations from international travelers. It seems likely that this is a ploy by individual government workers to shake people down for bribes by creating a "no se puede" conundrum rather than any genuine confusion over the government's policy. Infants and people over the age of 60 should not get the shots because the risks to their health are higher than the likely benefits. However, for other people yellow fever shots, which are effective for 10 years, may be a prudent precaution against a low-level risk that could become more serious.

Colombian gang figure sent to the USA

William Tamayo Hernández, the reputed former top enforcer for the Colombian Norte del Valle Cartel, was handed over to the FBI and put on a plane bound for the United States on October 16. He will face a possible death penalty on drug trafficking and murder charges.

Colombian wanted by the DEA escapes

Sometime over the weekend of October 11-12, alleged Colombian drug trafficker Hernán David Rivas Pérez left La Joya Penitentiary, with his absence going unreported until later in the week. Police say that guards helped him escape. Why the hurry to leave? Rivas escaped just before Panama got around to acting on the American request for his extradition to face drug charges in the United States.

Alleged pedophile may be back here

The Virginian-Pilot newspaper and the man's estranged wife say that 34-year-old Alberto Jose Inniss Aldegon, who is wanted by Portsmouth, Virginia police for raping and impregnating his 10-year-old daughter, is believed to be here in Panama. As a Panamanian citizen, Inniss is probably constitutionally immune from extradition to the United States, although there may be certain legal options to bring him to justice either down here or up there, depending on certain facts and possible treaty interpretations. It is believed that Inniss is living with relatives in Panama. If The Panama News obtains a photo or an address for Mr. Inniss, we will publish this information.

Chorrillo gang shootout and its aftermath

Angéla Rivera was a little girl, two months short of her third birthday, when on October 13 a couple of El Chorrillo youth gangs decided to do battle over some meaningless except to them "turf" on Calle 25. Angéla was in the way and took a bullet to the head and died a couple of days later at the Hospital del Niño. But wait a minute --- didn't the police announce that they had wiped out the gangs in El Chorrillo? Ah, but it's those gangs that are in prison. In their absence we have these newer gangs, "Bagdad" and the "Patio Sucio." And are these kids with Saturday Night Specials? Well, not exactly. The bullet that got Angéla was fired from an AK-47. The law enforcement reaction has not been swift. Expect, however, that at some point the police will move into the area en masse to bust gang members, and that afterwards gangs will still rule the streets of El Chorrillo.

Gun control proposal

Totalitarianism or a common sense public safety measure? Legislator Nelson Jackson (PRD - Portobelo) has proposed a law to ban the private carrying of firearms. Only government agents would be allowed to carry weapons outside their homes. People caught outside their homes with weapons for which a permit had been obtained would be fined $5,000 and those caught carrying weapons for which they had no permit would be fined $10,000.

Not a fugitive

It has been repeatedly alleged online, on pages that bear the logos of Elks Lodge 1414 in Balboa and VFW Post 3822, that Leslie Carson Aldredge, who now uses her maiden surname of Carson, is a fugitive from Panamanian justice who is wanted for stealing a car and a computer and various other crimes. Carson moved to Ecuador, and this series of stories alleged that she fled because of those charges. Carson started a website through which owners can sell real estate, and one of the articles in question concluded "In her case 'FSBO' stands for 'For Suckers - Bitch Operated.'" And you know what? It's all a lie. Leslie Carson came back to Panama for a few days to take care of some business and meet some friends, and stopped off at the New York Bagel Cafe in El Cangrejo, where the above photo was taken. Then she went back to Ecuador. She had no hassles with the law coming into Panama, and none leaving. There are no criminal charges against her. She is not and was never a fugitive from justice. The reports are malicious libels.