Colombia Passport » Panamá

Entrepreneur Ricardo Martinelli, new elected president of Panama

Albeiro Rodas — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:20:36 +0000

Ricardo Martinelli, an entrepreneur and the main leader of the opposition, was elected president of Panama with a 60 per cent of voting, according to the National Election Council of the South American nation. The second in the elections was the social-democrat Balbina Herrera who got a voting between 32 and 36 per cent, while former president Guillermo Endara remained in a very low position with only 2 per cent.

Martinelli, who is well known as the millionaire owner of a chain of markets in Panama, said that he will make a government of national unity after he knew the results proclaimed in television by the national election council. It is also the first rightist candidate to win the presidential elections in Latin American after a succession of leftist to the first seat of the countries like in Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Martinelli will govern Panama between 1rst July 2009 and 2014.

The new president will receive a country with great challenges like finishing the widen of the Panama Canal that have a cost of about 5 thousand million dollars to increase its capacity of transport among the two oceans. The financial crisis and the increase of urban violence will be in the agenda of Martinelli that was favorite among the most poor of the country, according to the national press.

The Panamanians elected also the National Assembly representatives, mayors and other political figures wide the country. The Panama Canal was the main subject of the elections among Martinelli and Herrera, a great creator of employment and the first source of the Panamanian economy. However, the current financial crisis has caused uncertainties.

The defeated candidate Balbina Herrera accepted the election of Martinelli. According with La Vanguardia, the defeat of Herrera in the election is possible to the opposition of workers of San Miguelito, a town where she was major. The workers made Herrera responsible for the high inflation and they pointed out that she had links with Noriega.

Projects

Among the promises of Martinelli is the construction of a metropolitan train for Panama City and a social program of housing for the poor. The coming of Martinelli to the presidency coincid with the economical blooming of Panama due to the economical reactivation of the Canal, the dollarization, the political stability and the growing in investment of enterprisers from Colombia, United States and Venezuela. For many observers, Panama became the “New Miami” where thousand of foreigners like pensioners, workers and investors, come to stay. According to International Living, Panama is one of the best six first places for pensioners that became a great source of incomes for the country. However, the economical boom of Panama has also other consequences: criminality has grown also under the hand of organized crime and drug dealers.

Farc, a drug cartel, said Uribe in Panama

Albeiro Rodas — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:08:48 +0000

The Farc guerrillas made one of the biggest cartels of drug trafficking of the world, said president Álvaro Uribe in a meeting with the presidents of Panama, Guatemala and Mexico to discuss agreements to fight organized crime in the region. President Uribe argued that the communist guerrilla known as Farc, is one of the biggest cartels of drugs. Farc is also the oldest insurgent group of the world created in the 1960s. Since them, it has followed a persistent fight against any Colombian government looking to establish a communist state. Farc has been also classified as a terrorist group by Bogotá, United States and the European community, but some countries like Venezuela and Ecuador restrained from give such title. It has also a big number of hostages, most of them soldiers and policemen. President Uribe met his colleagues Felipe Calderón from Mexico, Álvaro Colom from Guatemala and Martín Torrijos from Panama. President Calderón declared a frontal war against drug mafias in Mexico, an event that rose the numbers of murders and violence in the country. However, the nets of drug deals can be connected throughout the Americas. Colombia, Central America and Mexico are a natural bridge for mafias to bring drugs in the black markets of the United States. Uribe said that crime does not respect borders and laws and does not have nationality. In several occasions, a criminal group seems to respect the laws of a country, but commit its crimes in the next one, a reason to work together, said Uribe.

Financial crisis will hit Lat America anyway

Albeiro Rodas — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 06:46:58 +0000

Even if countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru have presented big programs to cushion the world recession, it will not be enough to the strong 2009 effects on the regional economies, suggested Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

Tax accounts will be deteriorated in most of the countries due to the slow of growing, the fall in the incomes of raw material and the increase in the costs of financing.

The global crisis will finish to weaken the Latin American currencies and slow its economics. In this way, the economical organization predicted that the GDP for Latin America in 2009 will be the half of what it was in 2008 stated in 4.8%. Therefore, the 2009 GDP could reach only 2.1%, according to the experts.

It said also that the most vulnerable countries to the prize of commodities will be Argentina and Venezuela, two countries that have implemented economical policies that have demotivated the foreign investment in the past years. Panama and Peru will have the highest growing in 2009.

The following is a list of numbers in what will be the GND for the biggest Latin American economies for 2009 according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P):

Mexico: It will have a reduction in its GND of 0,5%.
Brazil will grow 2,5%.
Argentina: 2,5%.
Chile: 2%.
Colombia: 3%.
Venezuela: 3,3%.
Perú: 6%.
Panamá: 5,5%,.

Colombian authorities deported Africans

Albeiro Rodas — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 07:08:43 +0000

A long travel to United States from Africa stopped in Colombia. Five Africans were arrested by the Colombian police in the State of Córdoba, according to sources of the Security Administration Department of Colombia, DAS.Officials from DAS arrested five foreigners from Africa, who were traveling from the city of Montería to the town of Puerto Rey on the last week of December. The foreigners were irregular in Colombia and were trying to cross to Panama by any means. Two of them were from Nepal and three from Somalia. They arrived by sea to Brazil, crossed to Peru, Ecuador and finally Colombia, to be sent back to Africa by the Colombian authorities for lack of visa and passports.

Another seven persons from Somalia were deported as well for the same reasons, according to DAS. It said that there is a net of illegal human traffic that intends to bring persons from African countries into United States crossing Latin America.

Usually the human traffic mafias offer to impoverished African young men to cross the Mediterranean sea to reach the coasts of countries like Spain and Italy. This is then a new service: to be brought to United States crossing Latin America for fees as 2 thousand dollars.

It is possible that the Africans are transported from the West coast of their continent to Brazil in different ships and then to the north by land, said the Colombian police department.

Colombia invests in Panama

Albeiro Rodas — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:44:08 +0000

“Panama: a golden mine for Colombia” was the expression used by Colprensa in its report about the investments of Colombia in its neighbor. The article published by El Pais of Cali in this date, shows the growing investment of Colombian companies in one of the busiest trade centers of the Americas due to its Channel that connects the most important world trade routes of the planet. The South American country has invested about 2,000 million dollars in the last years with the most known companies like Multicentro, Cusezar, Espacios Urbanos, Conconcretos, Acesco, Cementos Caribe (now Cementos Argos), Grupo Nacional de Chocolates, Bavaria, Interbolsa, Suvalor and Colpatria, among many others. The political stability of Panama and its benefits for foreign investment like a same treat for national and foreign companies in a legal frame, has attracted the growing economy of the Coffee Nation. Other country that is becoming so interesting for the Colombian entrepreneurs is Costa Rica.