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	<title>Council on Hemispheric Affairs &#187; Panama</title>
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	<description>COHA is an NGO specialized in monitoring Latin American and Canadian Relations for more than 30 years...</description>
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		<title>How About a Modest Act of Decency to One Very Flawed Former Panamanian Dictator?</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/how-about-a-modest-act-of-decency-to-one-very-flawed-former-panamanian-dictator/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/how-about-a-modest-act-of-decency-to-one-very-flawed-former-panamanian-dictator/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:19:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Daily News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=15331</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[General Manuel Noriega&#8217;s return to Panama yesterday, after serving 22 years of imprisonment abroad, poses serious questions for the Panamanian system of justice, the rectitude of Washington&#8217;s treatment of Noriega during his long period of incarceration, and the future fate of the 77-year-old former dictator. The Noriega case is surrounded by gross hypocrisy, a failure to tell the full truth concerning the nature of the U.S.-Panamanian relations during the period of Noriega&#8217;s rule of the country from 1983-1989, and the exact details of the ties existing at the time between Washington and Panama City. At the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, we have long been intrigued by the links between the two hemispheric entities. From the days of Noriega&#8217;s attendance at the Peruvian National Academy as a young cadet—Panama did not have such an institution of its own—to shortly before the establishment of intelligence connections between the youthful Noriega and the colossus to the north, Noriega&#8217;s flawed relationship with Washington has been a matter of conjecture. What we had here was a cursed knot binding the two countries together. It is probable that Noriega’s privileged place on the U.S. payroll would have lasted to this day if Roberto Eisenmann, a distinguished [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.coha.org/how-about-a-modest-act-of-decency-to-one-very-flawed-former-panamanian-dictator/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<title>Privatization Without Representation: Panamanian Doctors&#8217; Long Strike</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/privatization-without-representation-panamanian-doctors-continue-long-strike/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/privatization-without-representation-panamanian-doctors-continue-long-strike/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:54:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=15111</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Panamanian doctors, medical workers, and teachers ended a month-long strike on November 18 by signing a series of agreements with the Panamanian government about Bill 349, or the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Bill, which appeared to permit the government to privatize healthcare and education. The agreement would send the bill back to a &#8220;first reading,&#8221; which means, according to The Council on Hemispheric Affairs&#8217; interviews with journalist Eric Jackson of The Panama News, that the bill &#8220;dies unless brought up in a future legislative session.&#8221;  The Panamanian Society of General Medicine contended that Bill 349 would have &#8220;allow[ed]&#8230; a relaxation in the duties and obligations of the state, and [would] open&#8230; the door for basic services at the mercy of capital and not for the great majority.&#8221; Perhaps even more troubling, however, was the structure outlined by the bill for decision-making regarding PPPs, which would have given the president and several of his cabinet members unprecedented authority. This and other ramifications of the bill stand in direct contrast with the laws and regulations about PPPs characteristically found elsewhere in the world that guarantee at least minimal limitations and attempts at transparency. In Europe, for example, the role of PPPs is clearly [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>A “Major Win” for Panamanian Corruption: Free Trade Agreement Destined to Benefit Tainted Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/a-major-win-for-panamanian-corruption/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/a-major-win-for-panamanian-corruption/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:14:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=14932</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While Congress debated over the recently passed free trade agreement, neither side acknowledged that a contract with Panama will not only fail to provide a level playing field for U.S. businesses to fairly compete, but will also force U.S. businesspeople to become mired in dealings with a corrupt government, undercutting prospects for legitimate bilateral transactions. Martinelli&#8217;s apparent reaches for illegitimate power have led the executive branch to profoundly undermine the legislature, leading to an increasingly presidentialist system of government. A number of recent high-profile cases and statements made by experts confirm the near-normalization of corruption in the Panamanian judiciary. Transparency provisions in the free trade agreement are not sufficiently ironclad for a country in which corruption is &#8220;cultural,&#8221; a soft term for endemically tainted governance.[1] On October 12, 2011, the United States Congress passed free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. The Obama administration hailed the agreements for their supposed ability to create U.S. jobs and expand exports. The president lauded the passage of the agreements, calling them a &#8220;major win for American workers and businesses.”[2] On the other hand, liberal democrats and labor rights groups have decried the agreements, claiming that they will result in both the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Titling Scams and Suspicious Canal Bids: Panamanian Corruption Spreads to Land Holdings and Prominent Politicians</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/titling-scams-and-suspicious-canal-bids-panamanian-corruption-spreads-to-land-holdings-and-prominent-politicians/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/titling-scams-and-suspicious-canal-bids-panamanian-corruption-spreads-to-land-holdings-and-prominent-politicians/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:13:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=14876</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Endemic corruption in Panama&#8217;s government threatens to jeopardize the recently enacted free trade agreement with the United States and Panama&#8217;s economic strength. Highly publicized land titling scandals in Juan Hombrón, Paitilla, Costa del Este, and Chilibre, Panama, have raised questions about the alleged involvement of the administration of President Ricardo Martinelli and other government officials. Suspicions have arisen that the bidding process for the strategically important Panama Canal expansion program may have involved a tainted competition process among firms around the world. Introduction After the approval of the Panamanian free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States on October 12, 2011, President Ricardo Martinelli praised members of the United States Congress who had supported the pact, stating that “through their hard work and supportive pro-growth policies, Panamanians are building one of the strongest, most competitive economies in Latin America.”[1] With the lucrative Panama Canal expansion project and the recently passed FTA, in the next five years Panama is projected to have the highest rate of economic growth in Latin America.[2] Despite such growth, however, Panama’s economic and social development will most likely be crippled by the revelation of persistent government corruption, including major land titling and construction scandals. These concerns [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>The U.S. Whitewashes Panama’s Fatal Flaws to Champion Their Free Trade Agreement</title>
		<link>http://www.coha.org/the-u-s-whitewashes-panamas-fatal-flaws-to-champion-their-free-trade-agreement/</link>
		<comments>http://www.coha.org/the-u-s-whitewashes-panamas-fatal-flaws-to-champion-their-free-trade-agreement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[COHA Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Panama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.coha.org/?p=13881</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160; Panama’s notoriously corrupt judiciary and political backdoor dealings make the U.S.-Panama FTA a most problematic transaction. This FTA is yet another example of catering to big business interests abroad; indeed, it creates few benefits for the average U.S. citizen while generating possibly detrimental effects in Panama. Several WikiLeaks cables have portrayed President Martinelli and other Panamanian government officials in a self-defaming light, as the government continues to be buffeted by daily scandals. Panamanian authorities seem to be totally unperturbed, but Washington continues to portray an exceedingly venal society as a virtuous trading partner. &#160; United States-Panama Free Trade Agreement The pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Panama, also known as the Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), has remained in limbo since its initial signing on June 28, 2007.  While Panama approved the TPA several weeks later, the U.S. Congress has left the agreement in political purgatory until this past June, when the U.S. House of Representatives irresponsibly struck a deal on terms to be considered for approval during a new round of FTAs with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.[i] This represented the first time during the Obama administration that the TPA seemed to be moving [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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