Brundageba Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I just received a notice that we should as a group of US citizens, voice our concerns to the US embassy here that we are subject to crimes committed against us. My take? My take is...they will say to you " You are no longer in Kansas. We have no authority here. Register with us and we can send you notices and can inform your next of kin if you are in a bad way here. Otherwise we can only sympathize and offer you our empathy that you are living in a country where crimes are committed against you"I say this because we got the same exact speech from an embassy rep who in fact did come to our home up in the mountains of Colombia back n the 70's. Bill and I had bought a home in Colombia. A mountain hut basically. We were in our 20's then. On a border run to renew our visa, I was taken off the street by a policeman and ushered into the station and into a back room and told to strip naked before the cleaning lady. I found it a bit of an un-nerving experience to tell you the truth...(and so did the cleaning lady I might add!) We were let go but wrote to our US congressmen. The result was the visit. The US Embassy guy said in essence: "you are on your own here... If you find yourself in jail, we can bring you a Reader's Digest"....his exact words ! Keep in mind, we were hippys, pot was all new and all so prevalent in Colombia. He was just saying ..."watch your peas and Qs !" OK so now we are ole farts on Soc Sec with a house and cars. I suppose we "look rich"...hey we ain't. That said if the Embassy guy were to visit us today he'd say....."Gringo ole fart, watch your peas and Qs" What stuck was...."you are on your own here"Don't kid yourself. The US government is NOT the Panama Rep govt. You live here and are at the mercy of the system as it exists. Better just hunker down, low profile it...secure yourself and stay safe...as safe as you possibly can. That means staying informed...and protected, and never let down your guard.....just sayin and only my take on that recent notice. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Tosch Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Entertaining and thought provoking. I do think Panama is more of a developed country but I am not sure it has more of a developed US embassy . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger B Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Crime is not targeted to Expats only. It is a problem that is affecting more Panamanians than expats. I think you can do whatever you want through your embassy but according to Foreign Relations I am so sure that the US Embassy would not be involved in a direct way. They could tell the Panamanian government about their concern about crime that involve their nationals but no more than that.I think that the best way to do this is working together with your neighbors: expat + Panamanians to protest and make your voice be heard. Use social media to express your concern about crime and minors not accountable to their crimes and how this situation could affect Panama’s tourism. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WryAwry Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Hola, Roger, Your voice is always that of reason, and I am pleased to hear it on this new forum.Bienvenido! Dav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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