"Watch your car?" It's a very old, small time protection racket traditionally directed at foreign residents and tourists. If you don't part with your pocket change for this "service," you may well come back to find a damaged car. The traffic light squeegie guy who leaves your windshield wiper blades sticking up in the air if you wave him off is another variation on the theme.

Now, at the National Bus Terminal, they have guys who will "help you get a taxi." I first encountered these folks, directed by a guy with a yellow taxi festooned with Balbina flags that was parked on the sidewalk, a guy who happened to be dressed in one of Martín Torrijos's blue Transmovil uniforms.

Forget the guys who park on the sidewalk --- they're looking for suckers who don't know the city or its taxi fares, and the fares start at double the legal ones and go up from there. So you stand at the curb, and flag down a passing cab.

But this guy directed by the man in blue steps in front, flags the next cab, and starts to talk for awhile. You can get that cab to take you where you're going, but you're espected to pay off the "help you get a taxi" man.

Then you can also stand right in front of the cab that the new breed of parasite has stopped in the road for a "chat" and flag down a cab passing by on the open lane. I did that, got this 'Vito's gonna put out a contract on you for not paying' look from the jerk in the Transmovil uniform and something only slightly less creepy from the guy who stopped the cab that I would have flagged down.

They have cops, Transito people and security guards up the wazoo in and around the bus terminal. Under any normal circumstances these "help you get a taxi" guys would be run off in short order.

But the next time I came into the city and went out of the terminal to get a cab, the guy in the Transmovil uniform wasn't there but four guys were playing the same game --- and I used the same play I had before. This time one of cabs playing along with the "help you get a cab" guys swerved over and nearly caused a collision with the cab that finally braved the little blockade and stopped for me.

So how dare I associate this obnoxious new racket with one political party in particular?

First of all, the guy in blue when I first encountered this scam did that clearly enough all by himself. Moreover, last I knew the PRD controlled the presidency and through that the National Police, Transito and the benighted nascent Transmovil program; the Panama City corregidores who are empowered to deal with petty stuff like this; and the courts and the legislature to boot. This racket has sprung up at the nation's main bus depot because the ruling party wills it. It's another facet of the end-of-administration looting binge, wherein a parasitic PRD that's bound for defeat is grabbing whatever they can, however they can, at all levels. These are the PRD small fry who run their scam at the government's sufferance.

Also in this section:
William J. Jorden, US ambassador to Panama during the treaty negotiations
A trip to Embera country with students, diplomats and former politicians
Drive it till the wheels fall off
Antillean Fare
Why use imitation vanilla when you can grow the real thing here?
US ambassador pays a visit to the Danilo Pérez Foundation
Carnival scenes: the Antillean Fair
Carnival scenes: Panama City away from the main spotlights
Carnival scenes: a traditional small-town celebration in San Carlos
Kite Festival
Diablos & Congos Festival
Tuesday Talks
Canada outsources its auto consumer guide writing to Panama (sort of)
First they messed with the buses, now the taxis
Bernal's ragtag army

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