Martín's blue meanies

economy

Martín's new blue meanies

The man in the blue and white Transmovil vest was not happy about getting his picture taken. He quickly ducked into the laundromat in the doorway of which he was standing.

The Torrijos administration ended up with a one-participant "bidding" process in which it made a 420-bus order from Mercedes-Benz, which will start delivering vehicles from one of its plants in Brazil within a few weeks. Even the candidates of his own Democratic Revolutionary Party have condemned Torrijos's Transmovil plan on both practical and political grounds.

One of the reasons for the political problems is the behavior of the people whom Torrijos has hired to harrass bus drivers --- note the ticket book. Generally these are PRD activists who stand around looking bored, occasionally blow their whistles, wave their ticket books or exchange insults with bus drivers, and in most people's perceptions contribute nothing of consequence to resolving the nightmarish traffic problems that are one of the issues on which the opposition appears to be riding to victory.

Note, for example, the situation that the man shown above was overseeing from the laundromat door, the photo below having been shot within about five seconds of the one above.

Photos by Eric Jackson

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