RSS- Disgraced financier admits giving funds to PRD presidential and mayoral campaigns, now carving the way for a Martinelli victory - A change in the ruling party away from the PRD may signal closer ties between Panama and Washington. - Will Panama City choose a reformer or a political hack? With the [...]
Archive for the ‘Panama’ Category
Panama Electoral Tribunal Stoops Low, Takes Measures to Strike Miguel Antonio Bernal from the Mayoral Ballot
- A top down scheme in Panama City to purge independent candidate from the race for Mayor - Harassment of Bernal is a clear reflection of the monopolization of Panama’s politics under Torrijos’ guided democracy - Is this part of a Torrijos plan to eliminate term and eligibility limits? - Is this[...]
President Martin Torrijos’ Velvet Panamanian Coup
For more information on this piece over the Labor Day weekend, please call 202-215-3473. Torrijos uses subterfuge to militarize the National Security Posture. Patriots rally on September 3 against Torrijos’ wanton indifference to democratic procedures. State Department is conspicuously silent [...]
Obama Adviser Greg Craig: A Man of Merit
Highly qualified for Obama’s foreign policy advisory Some of Craig’s Latin American legal clients leave him vulnerable to political attacks because of their odoriferous backgrounds The right man to revive deeply flawed US – Latin American relations A call from COHA to rescind his defense of t[...]
After the Lease on the Ecuadorian Military Base at Manta Expires, Where Will the U.S. Turn Next?
On July 29, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry officially notified the U.S. Embassy that Washington’s ten-year lease on the Ecuadorian military base at Manta would not be renewed after it expires in November 2009. The statement, which declared that U.S. military aircraft and personnel must vacate the[...]
Operation Just Cause: A Historical Analysis
On September 7, 2007, seventeen years after Manuel Noriega’s violent removal from power in Panama, a legal order for his release was issued in Miami; however, to this day, the former Panamanian strongman remains imprisoned in a Florida jail as both France and Panama battle for him to be extradited[...]
Trucker Strike Aims at Panama/Costa Rica Border
The first major disruption of the nine-month-old Costa Rican-Panamanian free trade agreement came on July 6, when approximately 200 truck drivers from Panama, Costa Rica, and other Central American countries paralyzed cargo crossing from Paso Canoas, Panama to Cerro Punta, Costa Rica. The protest, [...]
Manuel Noriega in Legal Limbo – Grant Him House Arrest
Former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega will be living out the rest of his life in custody, the question is – where? While in prison in the U.S. for cocaine trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering, Noriega was convicted in absentia for crimes committed in Panama and France. Both countr[...]
Washington Revives the Fourth Fleet: The Return of U.S. Gun Boat Diplomacy to Latin America
• Administration not bothering to conceal implicit threat to the region
• After ignoring Latin America for most of his Presidency, Bush dispatches the Navy
• The steady remilitarization of Panama may provide a safe haven for the revitalized fleet
• FTA with Panama could [...]
Colombia: Uribe, Extradition, and the Fight for Justice
Extradition of Colombian paramilitary defendants to the US could ironically endanger peace process Speculation on the motivations behind Uribe’s undermining his own Ley de Justicia y Paz Recommendations for the defense of Colombian victims of injustic[...]