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170 Immigrants Raped in Darien Gap
Posted 02/09/2021
The National Assembly has in its possession, information that migrants who cross the Darien Gap are victims of sexual abuse.
Deputy Elías Vigil, who chairs the sub-commission formed by the Assembly to analyze the complaints, assured that migrants are denouncing that those who abuse minors and adult women are indigenous.
“That is painful because they are minors from 5 to 8 years old until 15 years old. Wives who come with their husbands are raped in front of their partners. This is worrying, "said the deputy.
The deputy explained that the migrants report that the abuses are committed by groups of people.
Official figures speak of 20 rapes, but the doctors in charge, according to Congressman Vigil, handle a report of up to 170 rapes in two months.
Migrants who are only passing through Panama do not want to file complaints because of the paperwork and embarrassment. In addition, they have the objective of continuing their way to the United States.
“Something must be done. We cannot remain silent ... (and let this go) unpunished, "said Deputy Zulay Rodríguez.
Panama and Colombia established a daily flow of 650 people to cross the border of both countries.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/170-immigrants-raped-in-darien-gap-1
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Tourism Authority hands over convention center administration
Posted 03/09/2021
After a 3-year wait, the American company SMG Latin America received from the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) , the administration of the Panama Convention Center, located in Amador.
The company was selected at the beginning of 2018 to operate and market the building with a capacity of 24,000 people, but construction delays its inception in 2012, delayed the entry of SMG.
The company signed a six-year contract, with a renewal option for an additional five years. For the first six years, SMG will receive $2.1 million, but will also receive commissions from the sale of food and beverages.
The PCC was built on a 10-hectare lot located behind the Figali convention center. It has 1,715 outdoor parking spaces, 200 that are under roof and 18 exclusive spaces for buses.
The exhibition area is 15 thousand square meters. This area can be divided into three sections of approximately 5,000 square meters, each with its own separate systems. The exhibition area in the new convention center is equivalent to the total footprint of Atlapa.
At the end of September, the new congress hall will host the final date of the National Tourism Convention organized by the Panama Chamber of Tourism, and in November it will be home to the congress of the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), an event that will bring together 5,000 executives from the industry seeking to get back on track after the debacle caused by the coronavirus.
Both events are expected to give the Panama hotel industry a much-needed fillip.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/travel/tourism-authority-hands-over-convention-center-administration
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Son of Ex-President Martinelli loses Final Extradition Appeal
Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares
Posted 01/09/2021
The Constitutional Court of Guatemala rejected the processing of an unconstitutionality appeal filed by Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, against the law that regulates extradition procedures.
The rejection clears the way for transferring the younger son of former president Ricardo Martinelli to face trial on money laundering charges in the United States.
The decision was adopted on July 19, and it states that Martinelli Linares did not carry out a technical legal analysis that supports the defect of unconstitutionality that he alleges in his claim.
"In the specific case, the constitutionality of its material content is not objected, with clear and adequate reasoning, since the argumentation is carried out without making a parification between the constitutional norms denounced as violated and the objective norm," says the Court's ruling.
The agency also ordered the Fifth Court of Criminal Sentencing, Drug Trafficking, and Crimes against the Environment to suspend the unconstitutionality process and avoid unnecessary procedures "in the interests of the principle of procedural economy."
Martinelli Linares has successively lost the appeals he has presented to prevent his delivery to the United States, where he is sued (with his brother Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares) for various crimes related to money laundering. The two have been detained in Guatemala since July 6, 2020.
Last week it was learned that the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals rejected the appeals filed by the lawyers of Martinelli Linares and confirmed the decision of the Fifth Court judges, who last May had ordered his surrender to face various charges linked to money laundering, in a New York court.
"In the case at hand, both the objective and subjective requirements are met so that the extradition of the requested Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares is declared appropriate, by virtue of the fact that the crime for which the government of the United States requests his extradition is of the common order, it is punishable according to the laws of both States, it has a penalty of more than one year and there is a treaty in force between Guatemala and the United States, ”says the Order of June 21, 2021, of the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals.
Martinelli Linares will eventually have to be placed under the orders of the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry, an entity that will proceed to issue a “governmental agreement” that will finally authorize his departure from the country.
“Right now, the extradition resolution is being sent to the Secretary of the Supreme Court. They send it to the Foreign Ministry, then he goes to the embassy, then to the United States and the extradition is already scheduled there, "said Rony Ríos, a journalist for El Periodico de Guatemala.
The extradition of Ricardo Alberto is going at a slower pace and is decided by another court, the Third Criminal Sentencing, Drug Trafficking, and Crimes against the Environment.
The two sons of former President Ricardo are requested in extradition to answer for an accusation filed in the Eastern District Court of New York, on three charges: one for allegedly conspiring to launder money, and two more, for hiding information about him. money laundering.
Luis Enrique faces two additional charges for the alleged use of money obtained through money laundering.
The two brothers remain in the Mariscal Zavala military prison, where an operation was carried out two months ago after an escape plan was alerted. Currently, visits to the prison are prohibited, since last August 14, due to the increase in Covid-19 cases.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/son-of-ex-president-martinelli-loses-final-extradition-appeal-1
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Gangland “most wanted” freed by mistake
Posted 01/09/2021The release of José Cossio the leader of the notorious Calor Calor gang from Punta Coco maximum security prison by a substitute judge, who did not follow the procedural rules.
This is concluded by a resolution issued by the Second Superior Court on May 10, 2021, which revoked the decision.
The resolution - to which La Prensa had access - specifies: “it is evident that the action of the liquidating judge Gerardo Ríos (in his capacity as a substitute) is not covered by the procedural norms, since the court responded to a request in contravention of the provisions of article 509 of the Penal Code ”.
The norm stipulates that the compliance judge is the competent authority to decide on the control of the execution of the sentence and that requests that imply a decision of this nature must be resolved during a hearing, in which the prosecutor must be present. of the case, the defense, and the compliance judge.
The court's resolution expresses its "concern" over the decision taken by Ríos, which allowed Cossio's freedom on September 14, 2020, until last Saturday, when he was detained at a police checkpoint in Costa del Este.
To order Cossio's release, Ríos considered that he had already served the 74-month prison sentence imposed on him for drug-related crimes.
In addition to the fact that Ríos was not competent to grant the detainee's freedom, it did not take into account that he had escaped from the La Joya Penitentiary Center on September 30, 2014, and that he was recaptured in Costa Rica and transferred to Panama on May 2, 2014. 2015, for which the sentence had been interrupted, the court noted.
"Thus, this court, administering justice, declares the nullity of the release of freedom
Sources linked to the process said that it was the Public Ministry that noticed the irregularities in the release of the detainee, which led to a review of the actions of the substitute judge Ríos.
Cossio was sentenced to 74 months in prison for the offense of aggravated possession of drugs and then a sanction of 38 additional months was applied to him for escaping the La Joya Penitentiary Center.
On Monday afternoon, under strong security measures, Cossio was escorted to the Albrook Airport to be transferred by plane of the National Aeronaval Service (Senan) to the Punta Coco prison.
Crime sheet
Cossio is considered the leader of the Calor Calor gang, the link to an assault in 2005 at the Bank of China branch in Colón, in which the $2.5 million was stolen.In 2007 an investigation was opened for his alleged connection to a homicide. Later, in 2010, he was convicted in the United States of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
In 2013, he was investigated link to the murder of the model Mily Jeans, whose body was found on Centenario road.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/gangland-most-wanted-freed-by-mistake
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The Horror of public service
Posted 31/08/2021
Public service in Panama was once an honor. Today, it is a horror. Conflict of interest is one of the most reprehensible behaviors of an official, but now it is one of the most common things among public servants who deliberately ignore elementary ethical principles in the exercise of their functions. These behaviors, in some cases, have criminal consequences, but justice in Panama is as or more absent than transparency.
Despite the fact that unethical behaviors say much more about the moral stature of officials, they often suffer contempt from them, since they consider it more urgent to face the criminal trial than the moral one when the second should be enough to disqualify them from public service.
However, given that society lives in an environment in which these behaviors are common, permissiveness has become customary and conflict of interest is now a part of everyday life that few question anymore. This is how, after decades of living like this, they have made us indifferent to nepotism, influence peddling, or those negotiated with the State. Either we wake up from this nightmare or we will end the failure of our democracy. LA PRENSA, Aug. 31
https://www.newsroompanama.com/opinion/the-horror-of-public-service
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Life in the Panama Paradise
Posted 31/08/2021
A man shot to death last Saturday in a Multiplaza parking lot, was on the payroll of San Miguelito municipality. He had a salary of $600 and worked as a community promoter.
Although he did not respond to La Prensa , Mayor Valdés Carrasquilla issued a statement yesterday on Monday, without mentioning names or specific events, he justified the hiring of Castro. “As a municipality we have a commitment to eradicate the problems that generate conflict situations in our communities, so we will continue to play our role as promoters, mediators, and facilitators of young people, and women who are at social risk in our district, regardless of their social strata because now, with the new accusatory criminal system, they are offered the opportunity to reintegrate into society”, he explained.
Valdés Carrasquilla, currently a member of the Democratic Change party.
The links
According to the authorities, Castro was a drug lord from Nuevo Veranillo, San Miguelito, and had ties to the Los Chacales gang, a group accused of the murder of two activists from the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD): Wendy Rodríguez, who was shot dead in the south corridor in August 2020; and Diógenes Yoyi Vergara, a former deputy, who was assassinated in February of this year in Pacora.
After Castro's murder, an image circulated on social networks showing the PRD Raúl Pineda, a deputy from San Miguelito, lamenting the incident.
The case is in the hands of the Homicide and Femicide section of the Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office of the Public Ministry, and until the end of this edition there were no reports of arrests.
Tulip's death occurred just three days after the murder on Calle 70 San Francisco, of Alexander García Vergara, who resided in San Miguelito and had recently been released from La Joya prison.
These events, and the capture last Saturday of José Cossio, leader of the Calor Calor gang, put the national security strategy against the wall.
However, the director of the National Police, John Dorheim, minimized the events and, on the contrary, said on the live radio program Panama : “we live in a paradise. They are isolated acts of criminals. (...) We are developing actions against these groups and we want to tell them that this is a safe country ”.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/life-in-the-panama-paradise
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New Minera negotiations
Posted 31/08/2021
President Laurentino Cortizo revealed that the negotiation with Minera Panama begins on September 1; the contract allows the Canadian company to carry out open-pit mineral extraction in the district of Donoso, Colon.
"The process is to reach an entirely new contract, which establishes the terms of its presence in the country and the conditions for the exploitation of the copper mine," said Cortizo.
This process was formally opened after the Government recognized that the current relationship with the company is not the most beneficial for the country, due to the royalties it receives for the exploitation of the mine.
Cortizo said that "it is a comprehensive negotiation, which includes environmental, labor, fiscal and economic aspects and social development for Panama, especially Colón, the communities of the districts of Donoso, Omar Torrijos, and their entire area. of influence”.
The president assured that in the negotiation the interests of the country will prevail, taking advantage of natural resources. "This means that the country has to receive substantial, fair income from the extraction of its natural resources and that this extraction is carried out with the best practices," he said.
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Spain investigates Martinelli Odebrecht links in apartment buy
Posted 31/08/2021
The Judicial Police of Spain has put the magnifying glass on 6 million euros deposited in bank accounts in that country by the family of former President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, which is suspected of being part of the bribes that Odebrecht paid in Panama, in exchange for infrastructure public contracts.
Of that amount, 4 million euros were used to buy a "luxury" apartment in the exclusive neighborhood of Los Jerónimos, in Madrid. , acquired in 2014 by Ricardo "Rica" Martinelli Linares -son of the ex-president-, to through a company called Iberian Real Estate Development.
The 393-square-meter apartment has been seized since April 2017 by the Spanish authorities, in response to a request from the Special Anti - Corruption Prosecutor of the Public Ministry of Panama. The apprehension request was sent to the Kingdom of Spain on March 7, 2017, and answered on April 24, 2017.
The latest reports from the Judicial Police of Spain were released this Tuesday, August 31, 2021, in a note from the digital medium Vozpópuli. The police agents -according to this journalistic note- advise the National Court of Spain to request assistance from the Panamanian authorities, to clarify the origin of the 6 million euros used by the family of the ex-governor, although they consider it "plausible" that these amounts come from of Odebrecht's “bites”, channeled through the lawyer Mauricio Cort, who in Spain has been widely identified as a frontman for the Martinellis.
According to the Vozpópuli note, the "suspicious" origin of $4.3 million used by Rica Martinelli through the development company Iberian Real Estate, deposited in a Madrid branch of Novo Banco, motivated the Portuguese bank to send an alert, in July of 2016, to the Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offenses (Sepblac), the supervisory authority for the prevention of money laundering in Spain.
The Police also alert about accounts opened in the name of Escania Financial Corp., another company associated with the Martinelli, which recorded revenues of $1.4 million, between 2009 and 2014, allegedly from the sale of a store in a shopping center in Panama. That information was told at the time by Evelyn Vargas Reynaga, lawyer for Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, and would correspond to the sale of an establishment in the Los Andes shopping center. Vargas Reynaga declared having traveled to Madrid on several occasions, to sign the deeds and close the sale of the apartment in Los Jerónimos, following the instructions of Rica Martinelli.
Martinelli, his two sons, and Vargas Reynaga are on the list of 49 people for whom the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is requesting a trial for alleged money laundering.
https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/spain-investigates-martinelli-odebrecht-links-in-apartment-buy-1
Lack of Mental Health Facilities, and Reports of Abuse At Some Facilities That Do Exist
in Health and Health Care, Special Care Facilities
Posted
https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/twin-probes-into-mental-health-center