The Bay of Panama Will Soon Be Clean; and other notes
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Dear Panama E-Letter Subscribers:
The Bay of Panama will soon be clean; and other notes.By Matt Atlee
Cracking Down On Illegal Immigration It appeared in the papers this week that President Ricardo Martinelli wants to crack down on illegal immigration, especially illegal immigration from China. Panama has always been a popular spot for transporting illegal Chinese immigrants from Asia to the U.S. Normally, Chinese immigrants are smuggled into Panama at the dead of night on some remote coastline and then quickly transported by vans to Panama City where they begin the process of moving north to the U.S. or Canada. Some Chinese end up staying in Panama to set up corner shops, dry cleaning businesses or restaurants. Many pay huge fees to be smuggled into Panama so they can begin the process of migrating to the U.S. or Canada. The smuggling of Chinese to Panama goes back to the middle of the 19th century when Chinese coolies were bought or stolen by Spanish or Portuguese slave traders from the Portuguese colony of Macao on China’s coast and sent to Panama to build the railroad, or to Peru where they harvested guano or worked on large plantations in the north of Peru, or Cuba where they worked in the sugarcane fields. So the Chinese population in Panama has a long history. During the Noriega years, lots of Chinese immigrants bought Panamanian passports to help them move north – Noriega was in need of money and selling Panamanian passports was one way of financing his government. The average price for citizenship in the 1980s was somewhere between $18,000 and $30,000 dollars. Over the last few years, fewer and fewer Chinese have been coming to Panama because Panamanian immigration laws have been tightened.
Ex-President of Panama, Guillermo Endara, died of a heart attack this past week. Endara, who was the first democratically elected president of Panama after the Noriega military government was removed by the U.S. military, was a very popular figure in Panama. His presidency is remembered for returning a broken country to peace and stability. His administration was also known to be one of the cleanest governments Panama ever had; Endara‘s government left the country fiscally in the black when he left office in 1994 – the only president to have done so since Panama’s democratic period began in 1990. Endara and his wife/widow Ana Mae, who is much younger than Endara, had a tumultuous relationship while he was president. As First Lady of Panama, Ana Mae aggressively went after former colleagues of Noriega. Most famously she demanded that the Attorney General of Panama, Roliego Cruz, resign his position for letting so many Noriega followers out of jail in the early 1990s. Ana Mae was also lucky: as First Lady she won the largest prize one can win in the Panamanian lottery: El Gordito, which pays out a prize worth about $100,000 dollars. Two New Naval Bases On Panama’s Pacific The Panamanian government is planning to build two new naval bases on the Pacific Coast of Panama. One base will be located in Darien Province at Piñas Bay and the other will be located in Veraguas Province at Punta Coco. The bases will be used to stop drug shipments along Panama’s Pacific Coast. For the last decade the Pacific coast of Panama has been one of the main corridors for drugs destined for Mexico and the U.S. Panama’s Pacific Coast is hard to control because much of the coast is not well patrolled and lightly populated. Most of the drugs leave from the port cities of Buenaventura in Colombia or from Guayaquil in Ecuador. Panama has seen an increase in drug shipments on its Pacific Coast as have Costa Rica and Mexico. When the creation of the naval bases was announced, there was a huge flap that the new naval bases would be used by the DEA or U.S. Navy, but the Panamanian government has denied that U.S. police or military personnel will use the bases. Casco Viejo Shooting Two French Tourists were shot in the Casco Viejo section of Panama City. Both tourists are alive and well. Apparently, they were walking around Casco Viejo at 10pm when two gangs began shooting at one another. One French tourist was hit in the leg, the other in the back: both were immediately taken to Santo Thomas Hospital to recover. Two teenagers were arrested and .38 caliber handgun was confiscated. Money Seized Police seized a huge bag of money that was left in a car they were chasing. Residents of Costa del Este reported two men making a money transfer from a BMW to a Toyota Prado and soon after the police gave chase. The two men left the Prado and escaped on foot. When police reached the Prado they found the bags of money. Ecuador-Panama Trade Relations Sour Trade relations between Panama and Ecuador have not been good since Ecuador placed tariffs on products arriving in the country from Panama’s Colon Free Zone. Since putting up the tariffs trade between Panama and Ecuador has dropped by 26%. Panama plans to take Ecuador to the WTO over the unilateral tariffs. Electricity Rates Increase It was reported this week that the price of electricity may go up over the next few months in Panama. National Energy Secretary, Juan Manuel Urriola, warned that because of maintenance work to Panama’s energy plants, and because of the change in rainfall caused by El Niño – most of Panama’s energy comes from water – that Panama would have to find other more expensive energy sources. Fake Viagra Producer Closed A company producing fake Viagra in the Colon Free Zone has had its operations closed by the Attorney General’s office. The drug was being produced with the Pfizer seal, but not with Pfizer ingredients. BNP Paribas Leaves After 57 Years The French Bank BNP Paribas is closing its operations in Panama. The French bank has been operating in Panama for the last 57 years but decided to leave Panama this year due to the fact that Panama is on the black list of offshore banking centers. Written By Matt Atlee Panama 101 – E-Book – $69
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The Bay of Panama will soon be clean. The cleaning of the Bay of Panama has been in the works for years. The Bay, at certain times of the year, gives off an awful smell. But with the completion of a sewer treatment plant and the cleaning of the entire Bay, the strong smells should be eliminated. The whole project will cost about $450 million dollars.
Guillermo Endara Is Honored