Dear Panama E-Letter Subscribers:
Panama Adds New Section To Coastal Highway
By Matt Atlee
 The Panamanian government this week gave the order to begin extending the coastal highway (Cinta Costera) to the Casco Viejo section of Panama City. This new section of the highway will cost $52 million to complete. With the completion of the coastal highway, you will be able to drive straight from Tocumen International Airport to the Panamanian Presidential Palace without hitting any major traffic jams – almost unimaginable to anyone who has lived in Panama for 14 years. The new road should also help improve the socio-economic conditions of the sections of Casco Viejo near the presidency by adding a pier and giving vendors a new location to sell; it will also make it much easier for tourists to visit Casco Viejo.
According to a study released this past Tuesday, the poverty rate in Panama has been declining. In 2003 the poverty rate was 36.8%; today the poverty rate is 32%. One of the reasons for the drop in the rate was increased opportunities for employment – unemployment is very low right now in Panama, only 5.6%. Also, economic growth, which began to return after the economic depression of 1998-2002, has averaged 8% since 2003. The economic growth and increased employment opportunities have pulled people out of the countryside to Panama City. The worst levels of poverty in Panama are found in the rural areas where poverty rates are as high as 96% in the indigenous areas. Since the 1960s and 70s, a time when road construction increased in the rural areas of Panama, there has been a huge migration from the countryside of Panama to Panama City – neighborhoods such as San Miguelito and Santa Librada are composed of families who made the migration from countryside to city in order to benefit from better social indicators like healthcare, education and employment. Today in the countryside of Panama there are only the very old and the very young – people who fall between the ages of 21 and 60 have left for Panama City.
 The Black Christ Festival of Portobelo was celebrated this past week on Panama’s Caribbean Coast. The Caribbean town of Portobelo is an old Spanish/Pirate town founded in the 1500s. In the story of the Black Christ a statue of the Black Christ was left in the seas near Portobelo 300 years ago by a ship heading out to sea. The Black Christ washed up in the Caribbean town of Portobelo where it has been honored as a saint ever since. To honor the Black Christ people walk from all over Panama to ask for forgiveness from the Black Christ. Every crook, thief and robber wants forgiveness for all the horrible things they’ve done over the past year. The Black Christ is their patron saint. About 35,000 people will arrive in Portobelo and the scene in front of the church where the Black Christ is housed is one of great religious expression: grief, crying and hysteria are some of the reactions that people have when they finally make to Portobelo to ask for forgiveness from the Black Christ.
The planning of the new Panama City metro system continues with the Swiss-Mexican-Panamanian consortium “POYRY y Cal y Mayor y GeoConsult” winning the contract to advise the Panamanian government on the best design and construction for the new metro system. In nine months the government expects to have a clear idea of what the new metro system will look like. When the government has the metro plan in its possession, it will begin to give out construction contracts. The government is planning to spend money in three areas after construction contracts are given: first to clear routes where the metro will pass, second, to pay for lands that will be used, and finally, for consulting. The government expects that the first phase of the metro will have 13 to 14 stations whether above ground or below.
One of the more colorful National Assemblyman of Panama, Carlos Tito Afú, has decided to change parties yet again. This time Afú has decided to switch to President Martinelli’s Cambio Democrático Party. The announcement was made in Afu’s home district of Los Santos with President Martinelli at his side. Afú and Martinelli urged other politicians to abandon the PRD Party and join up with Afú and the President. As a reward for joining Cambio Democrático, the President plans to build a new public park in the center of Las Tablas, and to build a new baseball stadium for the Province of Los Santos. Afú is bringing home the bacon to Los Santos and his district.
It’s not unusual for Panamanian National Assembly members to jump ship and join a different political party, especially if they are members of the party that was just voted out of power. Afú is a populist politician who wins elections by getting the national government to build in his district; in return he often provides the government in power with a critical vote in the National Assembly.
An exploratory group made up of members of the Panamanian government will be looking at the possibility of a mix of scientific research and sustainable tourism at Playa Machete on Coiba Island. Playa Machete is located on the northern side of Coiba Island; the architectural firm CYTED will be part of the exploratory group.
There have been more cases of H1N1 in Panama recently. The Ministry of Health is planning to purchase more of the vaccine for this pandemic. October is flu season in Panama, but this October people are sicker than usual.
The PRD party has chosen a new leader, Francisco Sanchez Cardenas, is a veteran of the party who is normally associated with the Torrijos leftist wing of the party. Cardenas beat out Giselle de Calcagno, who is currently Minister of the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises in the Martinelli government. During the campaign for the leadership of the PRD, Calcagno argued that the party was moving too far to the left to win an election; she also accused the PRD of carrying out electoral fraud during inter-party elections last Sunday. Calcagno, who has been a PRD member since 1979, said the legacy of General Torrijos has died within the PRD and has slowly been replaced with corruption.
The Panamanian government has increased its budget for the year 2010 by $295 million. The new tax revenue will be collected by implementing the new tax reform code and by increasing tax collection.
Written By Matt Atlee
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