Moderator_02
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Child shelter report details, suicide attempt, hospital rape
Posted 26/08/2021
A report presented by the deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) Emelie García Miró to the Commission for Women, Children, Children and the Family of the National Assembly, detailed the case of an adolescent who was in a shelter who had been the victim of rape while she was admitted to the Nicolás A. Solano hospital, after a suicide attempt.
Key witnesses in the state shelters scandals subpoenaed by the committee did not appear
The director of the hospital, Yamilka Abad, told La Prensa that they are moving forward with the necessary steps to obtain the minor's data and initiate an internal investigation. "We receive patients from all over," said Abad, adding that in this particular case, they are "up in the air." She stated that they have not had contact with any prosecutor's office or authority in this regard.
However, on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development (Mides) and the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family (Senniaf) they assure that the two cases detailed in the report presented by García Miró were already in the hands of the Public Ministry as part of the investigations carried out regarding the management of shelters.
Through a statement, the Senniaf detailed that between May and July of this year eight complaints have been filed "by the current administration." Last March, Graciela Mauad was appointed director of Senniaf after the scandal of abuse of minors in different shelters was uncovered.
No-shows
Senniaf's statement also said that Mauad did not go to the commission on Tuesday because she was dealing with migrant children.Mauad, like Panama Governor Carla García, and former deputy director of Senniaf; Sara Rodríguez, former director of the entity; Markova Concepción, former Minister of Social Development; and Michael Olson, a former Senniaf official, were summoned to appear before the commission to answer a 21-question questionnaire, but they did not go. The meeting was rescheduled for September 21.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/child-shelter-report-details-suicide-attempt-hospital-rape
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The painful reality of the Panama Legislature
Posted 26/08/2021
Yesterday, when the disaster that is our National Assembly (AN) in terms of transparency was disclosed, Deputy Raúl Pineda (PRD) made it clear to the face of the country that, indeed, the lack of accountability of the Legislature is not a perception but a shameful reality. Pineda almost went to blows with the independent Edison Broce, who asked for accounts on the programs of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Authority, at a time when its director supported his budget. Pineda absurdly described Broce's question as "discriminatory", preventing an answer. This kind of attitude reveals how reluctant politicians are to abide by the transparency rules that govern the public sector. That is why the AN ranks 10th out of 13 parliaments evaluated by Transparency International in the region. There were variables, such as regulations on transparency, the budget, and administrative management, in which the deputies were poorly evaluated, exposing the serious shortcomings of this body. It is worth wondering if such a bad appreciation matters to the deputies. We must not go far: the answer was given yesterday by Pineda. - LA PRENSA. Aug. 26.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/the-painful-reality-of-the-panama-legislature-1
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Diners dive for cover during shooting
Posted 26/08/2021
Diners in a restaurant on Calle 70 San Francisco took under tables cover during a shooting incident that left at least two people injured on Wednesday night. The restaurant issued a statement saying that the firearms incident did not occur inside the establishment, but on the street, and a person who escaped injured sought refuge in its facilities.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/diners-dive-for-cover-during-shooting-2
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Transparency International condemns Panama government muzzling
The muzzlers
Posted 25/08/2021
The decision of the Government of Panama to restrict access to the minutes of the Cabinet Council (council of ministers) "exacerbates the crisis of public mistrust and is morally incorrect" said the Panama Chapter of Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday, August 24.
The measure is “inconvenient”, especially because since March 2020 and due to the pandemic there is in Panama “a state of emergency due to emergency, decreed by the Executive itself” that exempts “itself from regular controls and accountability and proactive transparency, amid notable indications of acts of corruption by officials ” said the Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom – The Panama Chapter of TI in a public statement on Resolution 71 of August 4, through which the Executive restricts access to the minutes and records of discussions in the Cabinet or Ministers Council.
The resolution, which came into force last Friday, declared "as restricted access information that corresponding to the minutes, notes, files and other records or records of the discussions or activities of the Cabinet Council, the president or vice president of the Republic .
The Presidency explained that the resolution, which has generated harsh criticism against the Government of Laurentino Cortizo, is based on article 14 of the current Transparency Law or Law 6 of 2002.
This law "exhaustively establishes a list of information considered to be of restricted access, empowering all institutions and organs of the State to declare it by means of a Resolution," according to official information.
The Panamanian Chapter of TI assured that since 2020 it has warned “the inconvenience of the exceptions in the transparency Law, of the 10-year (veto) extendable, and that the officials who guard the information can declare it restricted without further access ".
"We demand the immediate transparency of all documents related to public assets and resources of the State, in addition to once again urging the Comptroller General of the Republic and other control authorities to fulfill their role as a counterweight to the executive power," said TI.
The independent deputy Gabriel Silva presented in the National Assembly, with 71 seats and a large pro-government majority, a legislative project to reform the Transparency Law and annul the latest decree.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/transparency-international-condemns-panama-government-muzzling
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ENVIRONENT: Maersk invests $ 1.4 billion in decarbonized fleet
Posted 25/08/2021
The AP Moller-Maersk, shipping company that aims to have zero pollutant emissions by 2050, will invest $1.4 billion in the purchase of the first 8 mega container ships capable of being operated with carbon-neutral methanol, a project that marks the beginning of the decarbonization of their fleet.
The aim is to add the 8 ships using methanol to the Maersk fleet of more than 700 ships in the first quarter of 2024.
“The simplest thing would have been to run on liquefied gas, but Maersk was very clear that it did not want to use any fossil fuel. We really want to eliminate pollution to the environment, "said Antonio Domínguez, CEO of Maersk Caribe.
He added that for several years the company was doing tests with ships that use batteries to see if it was capable of propelling the ship 100%, as well as tests with ammonia and alcohol.
The ships are between 10% and 15% more expensive than normal boats because it is a new technology.
It is unknown, for now, what the cost of fuel will be compared to others because it is a matter of supply and demand, Domínguez said.
He explained that there are two types of methanol and the factory that Maersk runs in Denmark is 100% production with zero emissions to the environment for small ships.
In the case of smaller ships, the first Maersk vessel that will use fuel from this plant is a feeder that will begin operations in 2023 and has a capacity of 2,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit).
For large ships, biomethanol from alcohol or some natural compound could be used. At the moment it is unknown which company will be dedicated to producing it to supply the 8 ships that will be launched in 2024.
The ships will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and have a nominal capacity of approximately 16,000 TEUs, that is, they are of a greater capacity than those that can transit through the new locks of the Panama Canal, which can carry up to 15 thousand TEUs. The agreement with HHI includes an option for 4 additional vessels in 2025.
The series will replace older ships, generating an annual CO2 savings of around one million tonnes.
According to the company, more than half of Maersk's 200 largest customers have set ambitious zero-carbon targets for their supply chains. These include Amazon, Disney, H&M Group, HP Inc., Levi Strauss, Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, Procter and Gamble, Puma, Schneider Electric, Signify, Syngenta, and Unilever.
"The time to act is now if we are to solve the climate challenge of shipping," said Soren Skou, CEO of AP Moller-Maersk
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September start for Metro Villa Zaíta link
Posted 25/08/2021
Construction of the infrastructure that will support line 1 of the Metro to the Villa Zaíta sector will begin in September.
For the 2.2-kilometer journey, 85 piles will be erected for the viaduct and another 10 for the Villa Zaíta station, Ernesto Córdoba Campos district.
“According to the work schedule, it is estimated that the construction of the first piles will begin next September. In parallel, in the next few days the road adjustments will begin between the section that includes the San Isidro area up to the Chivo-Chivo entrance ”, reported Panama Metro.
The project projects a terminal station with a capacity of more than 10,000 passengers during peak hours.
A bus interchange will be built with a capacity of more than 8,000 passengers in rush hour and a parking lot for 800 cars."
The cost of the civil works of the viaduct and other works carried out by OHL-Mota Engil is $177 million
It is estimated that the work should be delivered in October 2023.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/september-start-for-metro-villa-zaita-link
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Stalled action over child abuse
Posted 25/08/2021
The lack of thoroughness, negligence and total lack of empathy in the case of abuses committed against children and adolescents in shelters under the tutelage of the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family (Senniaf) is something that escapes all understanding. That at this point - when more than half a year has passed since the first cases were discovered - the Ministry of Social Development goes to the Public Ministry to file a criminal complaint, is simply unheard of. How is it possible to be so careless with an issue that has produced horror in Panamanian society? The first who has had to demand a thorough and in-depth investigation to find those responsible for these abuses is the President of the Republic, but he has done little or nothing in that direction. Since January nothing has changed to the point that now there are new reports of abuse. What is shameful is that the Senniaf announced last February - in a statement - that it "reaffirms its commitment to guaranteeing the well-being" of children and described as "events of the past" what the victims of abuse have experienced. But, as we can see, everything remained the same. The incompetence and laziness of this government is unparalleled. – LA PRENSA. Aug. 25.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/stalled-action-over-child-abuse
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New cases of child abuse in State shelters
Emely García Miró
Posted 24/08/2021
A report with three new anonymous complaints about abuse of minors in shelters in the country was presented Tuesday, August 24 to the Commission for Women, Children, Youth and the Family of the National Assembly by Deputy Emely García Miró.
"We are talking about serious crimes, if they are true, such as rape, abuse of minors with disabilities, systematic psychological violence," said Deputy Emely García Miró, who “These cases have occurred in the Tocumen area and have spread to other regions of the country,” she added.
As a result, the Ministry of Social Development reported that it filed a criminal complaint with the Public Ministry (MP) for alleged cases of violence and abuse against girls, boys and adolescents living in shelters, derived from the report presented by the legislative commission and following up on the complaints previously filed by the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family ( Senniaf ).
According to Deputy Harding, vice president of the Commission, the events would have occurred this year, specifically after April.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/new-cases-of-child-abuse-in-state-shelters
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Migrant flow through Panama surpasses 64,000
Posted 24/08/2021
Some 64,000 migrants have passed through the border of Panama with Colombia this year most of them Haitians says The Minister of Security, Juan Pino and the number continues to swell with 18,850 entering the country in August en-route to the United States and Canada.
The migratory situation in the region has worsened in the last three months when thousands of people of different nationalities travel through various countries in South America to reach Colombia and then through the jungle of the Panamanian province of Darien. This tour of the inhospitable region can take between seven and nine days.
The migration crisis led the authorities of Panama and Colombia to hold working meetings and join other countries in order to address the situation and ensure adequate and humanitarian treatment of migrants. Other meetings are still pending to carry out actions that are also aimed at combating illegal human trafficking.
Panama and Colombia have agreed to the controlled flow of about 600 migrants per day, until August 31; then it will be 500.
Minister Pino reported that until yesterday 2,400 migrants had been registered in Panama and reiterated that the treatment they are given is humanitarian both at the reception and at the transfer to the border.
According to figures from the Ministry of Security as of Sunday, August 22, in the shelters installed in the Darien province, the rest are located in the shelters in the Chiriquí province.
The migrants begin their journey from countries such as Brazil, Chile and Ecuador.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/migrant-flow-through-panama-surpasses-64000
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The Country of the Absurd
Posted 23/08/2021
Tourism, one of the pillars of our economy, has suffered losses estimated at more than $3 billion, as a result of the collateral damage produced by the Covid-19 pandemic. But, in addition, the Government has contributed enormously to delaying its recovery. In many cases, government policy in this sector has been erratic, improvised, and discretionary. Tourism in Panama has been one of the worst treated by the authorities. There are too many cases in which foreigners who came to visit the country repeatedly complain of mistreatment, abuse, the price of tests at the airport - and even to go to Taboga -, the quality of the hotels where they are forced to remain, of the little seriousness of the laboratories hired by the Government to do the tests, of the impoliteness, of the lack of information; confusing regulations and authoritarianism in the application of the rules. In short, many are affected and this will surely have consequences for tourism, hit by the strictness of local quarantines, not counting international ones. What good are incentives to build works for tourism if there will be no tourists? This is the country of the absurd. – LA PRENSA, Aug.23.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/the-country-of-the-absurd
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Two injured in taxi accident
Posted 23/08/2021
The driver of a taxi carrying four passengers lost control of the car and fell onto the doorway of a house in the La Siesta sector, of Tocumen on Sunday. Two passengers were injured and taken to hospital.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/two-injured-in-taxi-accident
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95 arrested for theft of copper cables
Posted 23/08/2021
The National Operation Center (CON), of the Ministry of Security, reports that in the last 30 days video surveillance cameras and citizen reports have led to the arrest of 95 people have for the theft of telecommunications and electrical cables and copper pipes in six townships of the capital city Cases have been registered in the townships of Bella Vista, Ancón, Parque Lefevre, Pueblo Nuevo, Calidonia and El Chorrillo.
Commissioner Ronald Jaén reported that from February 15 to August 15, 2021, 738 vehicles were recovered and 572 people related to these cases were captured after operations coordinated with the CON.
In this period 8,300 people were taken for the crime of domestic violence.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/95-arrested-for-theft-of-copper-cables
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Investigation of swabs scandal ongoing
Posted 23/08/2021
The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai) reports that 11 procedures have been carried out related to the case of swabs administered to travelers to the island of Taboga.
Elsa Fernández, general director of Antai, recalled that this investigation began due to a case of conflict of interest, which is clearly detailed in article No. 39 of the Code of Ethics for Public Servants.
The first proceedings of the Antai were carried out on August 19 and consisted of five eye inspections in the Ministry of Health (Minsa), Public Registry, Civil Registry, the Gorgas Memorial Institute, and in Sermedic Panama.
The objective of these proceedings was to collect relevant information for the investigation that was initiated ex officio for the complaints filed about the swab test as a requirement to travel to six islands in the Panamanian Pacific, especially Taboga.
This Monday it was reported that Sermedic Panama established a swab center in the Amador area without having the approval of the Technical Health Council to carry out laboratory tests.
Sermedic is owned by Ana Lorena Chang Chevalier, who until August 19 served as the regional head of Public Health and was separated from the position by the Minsa.
The laboratory of the Sermedic Panama clinic is also owned by the former national head of Epidemiology of the Minsa Leonardo Labrador Chávez, who is Chang's husband and was separated from his position on August 19.
Fernández indicated that Antai, together with the Directorate of Judicial Investigation, carried out a visual inspection at the Taboga docks on Saturday, August 21. "We needed to corroborate that this company will not continue to provide a service for which it was not authorized," he added.
He said that on Monday, proceedings were carried out again at the Ministry of Health and the Civil Registry, which was the second in both entities.
The official clarified that they have a clear roadmap for the inspections that will be carried out this week.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/investigation-of-swabs-scandal-ongoing
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Whales and dolphins suffer from poor sighting practices in Panama
Posted 22/08/2021
A series of scientific studies conducted in Panama shed new light on the negative effects of noise, harassment, and other ill-advised practices during whale and dolphin sightings. Two recent scientific studies carried out in Panamanian waters show that incorrect sighting practices generate consequences in the behavior, communication systems, and emotional states of the animals.
One of the investigations was carried out within the protected area of the Las Perlas Archipelago, where they monitored humpback whales during their breeding season (from August to September) and they recorded that tourist observation boats often ignored the regulations. established to protect whales: " They deliberately chased them, got too close to adult whales and their young, forcing them to change their behavior, " details a study report led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and the State University of Arizona, Whales changed direction more frequently when more than two or three tourist boats were present, and groups of whales that included a calf took another direction more frequently than other types of groups, based on recorded observations.
“ In Las Perlas, where the whales come to breed, we observe harassing behaviors, such as 10 tour boats surrounding a mother and her calf, but we also speak with tourists and operators who have learned a lot about whales and defend the best practices of whale watching and conservation efforts. For my thesis, I plan to find out more about what motivates both tourists and operators, so that we can suggest ways to improve their experience and protect the whales, ”says Katie Surrey, a doctoral candidate from Arizona State University and co-author of the study.
"Now we have methods to measure how the behavior of whales changes as a result of observing practices, " says marine biologist Héctor Guzmán, another author of the research.
The scientists hope to measure the amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) to confirm whether animals are under stress, as well as employing better technology to measure the distance between ships and whales and drones to document interactions.
Whale watching is increasing around the world and, according to the International Whaling Commission, the activity generates about $2.5 billion a year.
Dolphins
Dolphins, in Panamanian waters, are also suffering the effects of sighting tours, according to other research, this time by Betzi Pérez-Ortega, a Panamanian doctoral student at McGill University, Canada.
Pérez-Ortega carried out his work in the Dolphin Bay area, Bocas del Toro archipelago, in the Caribbean, focused on bottlenose dolphins and recorded multiple irregularities.
A STRI report shares the details: " A large number of tour boats follow the dolphins for long periods, disrupting feeding and social behaviors and sometimes injuring the animals. Mothers and their young can be separated. In these circumstances, dolphins are likely to become stressed and more alert. These emotional states can be detected by modulating the contour of their characteristic whistle. "
Dolphins produce echolocation "clicks" to navigate and locate food, while their sounds or whistles are to socialize, strengthen group cohesion and communication between mother and calf pairs and “with this study we have been able to scientifically verify how the noise from tourist boats affects the communication system of the species in this particular place, "says the STRI fellow.
In Panama, there are regulations for the observation of whales and dolphins since 2005.
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Government rejects stake in Minera
Posted 21/08/2021The rejection of the idea that the State had a stake in the Minera Panama mine recommended by Marcel Salamín led to his departure from the high-level commission of officials and advisers to renegotiate the contract with the mining company.
The Government has already consolidated what would be its proposal The Minister of Commerce, Ramón Martínez, indicated that the proposal has several important foundations, among which he highlighted the restructuring of the royalty scheme and the elimination of exemptions in favor of Minera Panama
Before the end of this month, the Government would present its proposal to Minera Panama. So far, they have not sat down to discuss the scope of the changes they hope to achieve in the reform of the concession contract reports La Prensa.
Since Minera Panama dispatched the first vessel with copper concentrate, in 2019, and until the first quarter of this year, it has generated sales of $2.235 billion. Of this total, the State has received $35 million.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/government-rejects-stake-in-minera
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CSS probes suspected ethics violations
Posted 21/08/2021
Just days after two senior officials of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) were removed from their positions due to a possible conflict of interest The Social Security Fund (CSS) announced that it has initiated an internal investigation to determine the possible commission of violations of ethics by officials of the institution.
According to the CSS, those under investigation were directors of a company that participated in an acquisition process in 2020.
The company linked to the officials received contracts for the supply of laboratory supplies, after presenting their offer to the entities as established by law. "The CSS warns that we would be facing a possible breach of the regulations established concerning the conflict of interest," said a statement.
The entity recalled that any public servant of the CSS who incurs breaches of ethics will be investigated, and the entity will take the corresponding sanctions against them.
Leonardo Labrador, who served as director of Epidemiology, and Ana Lorena Chang, former regional head of Public Health, are under investigation after it was detected that they are linked to a company that carried out swabs from travelers to the Pacific islands.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/css-probes-suspected-ethics-violations
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Backroom deals mock the will of the people
Posted 21/08/2021
The Minister of Commerce has revealed that the team that will renegotiate the contract with Minera Panama has already met seven times. This has become known thanks to the pressure on the Government that one of the members of this commission has publicly resigned and revealed the existence of a proposal that is in the process of being refined. Once again, the Government intends to negotiate behind the back of Panamanian society, as it did with the Panama Ports Company because it is now that we learn of a proposal that, in the opinion of the resigning negotiator, is disadvantageous for Panama.
This is the second time that this administration mocks the will of Panamanians, making plans without considering the best interests of the country, but only theirs. What do they want? Inform us only of your bedroom deals? Give away the national heritage of this and the following generations? Enough of making arbitrary decisions, ignoring the will of a country fed up with being a guest of stone in "negotiations" that are reduced to accepting the crumbs of an activity as destructive as mining. Respect and begin to be accountable for what you are looking for with this new contract. LA PRENSA, Aug 21.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/backroom-deals-mock-the-will-of-the-people
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A recently published video of Ruby McKenzie talking about Amigos de Animales is available at:
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US firm with corruption record gets $9.8 million Panama contract
Posted 20/08/2021
Louis Berger the US firm that has been awarded a $9.8 million contract to design the tunnel that will carry Metro Line 3 under the Panama Canal has been convicted of corruption, paying bribes and violations of labor rights in the United States, India, Spain, Colombia, Iraq, and Afghanistan reports La Prensa.
The contract is awarded 6 months after the act was published in PanamáCompras and after a series of claims presented by the competitors of the Tunnel of the Americas Consortium.
The Panama Metro reported that the process was carried out under transparency guidelines and that all legal terms were met.
The rejection caused some of the acts of corruption that company executives committed in the past to be disclosed on social networks.
The first corruption headlines involving Louis Berger executives date back to 2010 when two of its top executives pleaded guilty to raising the prices of jobs they did in Iraq and Afghanistan on behalf of USAID.
Then, in 2015, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the firm for paying bribes to Indian officials to obtain water supply contracts in the cities of Goa and Guwahati.
Four years later Louis Berger came to the fore after the US National Transportation Safety Board linked it to the collapse of the pedestrian bridge that was under construction in Miami that caused the death of six people.
In its investigation, the board determined that Louis Berger "was not qualified by the Florida Department of Transportation to conduct a construction review, and said that state agency should have verified Louis Berger's qualifications."
Louis Berger has a history in Panama. In 2002, it was hired by the Ministry of Public Works to remove the war material that was detected on the land where the accesses to the centennial bridge would be built, a project where it also participated with the design of the structure.
Between 2008 and 2009, the Panama Canal Authority gave it the task of disseminating the objectives and scope of the construction of the third set of locks to the residents of the communities surrounding Lake Gatún, province of Colón.
In 2011, the design of the Atlantic Bridge was awarded along with China Communications Construction Company.
In 2019, the name of the company made the news when it was awarded the contract to carry out the Environmental Impact Study of the project to recover the beaches in the bay of Panama, a failed project, criticized by civil society.
In June the company was disqualified from the tender carried out by the Metro to contract the studies for the construction of the metrocable (cable car) in the San Miguelito district. Despite obtaining the best evaluation, the evaluation committee disqualified Louis Berger when a conflict of interest was detected with one of the experts who would participate in the project.
The Metro canceled the tender after all the participants were disqualified.
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Martinelli’s ex-secretary loses arrest freedom bid
Posted 20/08/2021
A request for bail not to be detained was denied to Adolfo Chichi De Obarrio, private secretary of former President Ricardo Martinelli, by the First Criminal Liquidation Court, in the process for alleged embezzlement in the purchase of backpacks through the National Aid Program (PAN).
Judge Agueda Renteria dismissed the petition presented by attorney Víctor Collado, on behalf of De Obarrio, considering that the defendant has not shown interest in appearing in the process and that he is charged with serious crimes, such as embezzlement, corruption of public servants, and fraud in public procurement acts since 2016.
The judge also took into consideration the remarks by the former director of the PAN, Rafael Guardia Jaén, who confessed to the Public Ministry that De Obarrio was the one who ordered which companies had to grant the contracts.
In 2018, the now liquidated Fifteenth Criminal Court requested Interpol to arrest De Obarrio.
For this reason, De Obarrio was arrested in Milan, Italy. However, he was released days later because the National Assembly of Panama has not ratified the extradition treaty agreed between Panama and Italy in 2013, a procedure that the Parliament of Italy did.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/martinellis-ex-secretary-loses-arrest-freedom-bid
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Ambassador resigns from team negotiating “crumbs” deal with Minera
Marcel Salamin
Posted 20/08/2021
Former Panama ambassador Marcel Salamín has resigned from the high-level team formed by the Government to renegotiate the concession held by the Minera Panama company On the Mesa de Periodistas program he said that among the reasons for his decision is that “it was glimpsed on the table that there is a pre-prepared proposal for some time that, at our request, was never placed on the table but was talked about in general terms ”.
In Salamín's proposal "I do not leave it up to the company" to determine what portion of its income it declares as profit and from there it decides "the crumbs it can give us."
He explained that it was argued that it was simply necessary to apply Panamanian law, that the royalty had to be raised from 2% to 5% and that it had to be recognized that the copper does not belong to the Panamanian nation but belongs to those who exploit it. It also emerged on the table that there are three foreign states that, directly or indirectly, have a stake in the stock package, either from the parent company First Quantum or from the Minera Panama subsidiary, something that is prohibited by the Panamanian Constitution. said the former ambassador.
Salamín added that the proposals he has presented at the table "break the paradigm" since there prevails that "we must be collectors of taxes and royalties." However, in his opinion, and as with 16 other joint ventures in the country, "we are the owners of that copper" and therefore they have the same right to participate on the same terms.
The former ambassador also regretted that everything from a "negotiating team" has become "an advisory team."
He expressed his confidence that President Cortizo, at some point, will be freed from the "powerful interests" that run through the Palacio de Las Garzas
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OPINION: Panama a country stolen
Posted 20/08/2021
The decomposition of the public service is regrettable. Before, it was the high command of the government of the day who became millionaires at the expense of the treasury, but corruption has permeated. Now not only they, but middle managers already do it, even in the lowest hierarchies. The conflict of interest that we have witnessed in the Ministry of Health, in which a couple of officials have profited from the pandemic, outlines everything that is wrong in the Government. Each investigation by the Minsa or the Public Ministry on irregular acts of public employees ends in limbo. The message leaves no doubt: corruption is the only requirement to occupy key positions or to obtain contracts. Everyone looks for their piece of the cake and the one who does not lend himself to the scam, ends up expelled. In summary, we have Minsa officials in health business; a Ministry of Public Works that hires companies confessed to acts of corruption and a president who allows these abuses, while he walks incognito in Tocumen to verify that the mosaics of the terminal are broken, while in front of his eyes the country is stolen- LA PRENSA. Aug 20
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/opinion-panama-a-country-stolen
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Investigation of high ranking Health Ministry officials
Visitors to Taboga need a swab test
Posted 19/08/2021
The director of the Metropolitan Health Region, Israel Cedeño confirmed that the head of epidemiology of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) Leonardo Labrador, and the regional head of public health Ana Lorena Chang Chevalier are part of the Board of Directors of the Sermedic company that until last week carried out swabs on Taboga Island
Cedeño said in Telemetro Reporta that an investigation was initiated for a possible conflict of interest
and to determine if the doctors used their influence so that the company would benefit.
The company was created in June 2020, in the midst of a pandemic.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/investigation-of-high-ranking-health-ministry-officials
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Martinelli claims constitutional protection for crimes during tenure
Posted 18/08/2021
While the second wiretapping trial of former President Ricardo Martinelli entered its 20th day on Wednesday, August 18 La Prensa reports that he has gone to the Supreme Court) alleging he cannot be prosecuted for crimes committed during his presidency.
According to the brief presented a month ago by Carlos Carrillo, Martinelli's lawyer, the case followed against his client violates article 191 of the Constitution , since -according to him- he could not be criminally prosecuted for acts committed when he served as President of the Republic , from July 2009 to June 2014.
Article 191 of the Constitution establishes that the President and Vice President of the Republic are only responsible for exceeding their constitutional functions; for acts of violence or coercion during the electoral process, and for crimes against the international personality of the State or against the public administration.
Martinelli is facing trial for the alleged commission of crimes against the inviolability of secrecy and the right to privacy.
In a hearing held on July 4, 2018, when the jurisdiction of the case was still in the Supreme Court, Jetonimo Mejía, as Judge of Guarantees denied the nullity of the process based on article 191 of the Constitution, since he warned that the Magna Carta does not establish any immunity for the Presidents of the Republic, "before, during or after being elected." Mejía also recalled that there are precedents in this regard when the Court investigated ex-president Martín Torrijos for the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering, related to the alleged bribes in the Cemis case.
"Both the President of the Republic and the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice are then responsible for infractions of the Penal Code , regardless of the position they hold," Mejía said at that hearing.
However, Carlos Carrillo, in the claim of unconstitutionality presented to the Court on July 17, insists that his client can only be prosecuted for the crimes listed in Article 191.
"In the case of the other crimes contained in the catalog of criminal law, a state of unimputability operates, " Carrillo said.
Magistrate Hernán De León was assigned as speaker of this action , while Cecilio Cedalise is responsible for resolving another claim of unconstitutionality presented by Carrillo, against another decision adopted by Mejía at that hearing on July 4, 2018.
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