Panama: Boxing to a better life

http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/06/25/panama-boxing-to-a-better-life/

By Sara Miller Llana Staff writer 06.25.09

A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

PANAMA CITY – Eusebio Pedroza, a former world boxing champion, started punching at age 9 in a local gym. But he hid it from his parents for a decade, sneaking off to Friday night fights with his trainer uncle, until he made it professional. “They wanted me to study,” he says.

These days kids have nothing to hide – as boxing is making a comeback across Panama. In April, the government inaugurated the Roberto Duran arena, a $16.5 million renovation expected to attract world-class title events. Panama currently boasts three world champions – no small number considering the country’s population of 3 million.

It is in this context that Mr. Pedroza has set up a nongovernmental organization to help the kids in the same hardscrabble neighborhood where he grew up shining shoes and selling candy on the streets as a small boy.

The two-year old Association for Organic Human Development helps in all kinds of ways: with tutoring or after-school activities to steer boys away from gangs and girls from prostitution. Boxing is just a piece of it, but one that Pedroza is willing to teach.

“Boxing is more than just an art, it is defense for an individual and it teaches discipline,” he says. But education is what he tries to underscore. “Education is always the priority,” he says.

And he teaches by example. He might not have the celebrity status of Roberto Duran, but Pedroza has an advanced degree, has served in public office, and continues to work in a variety of capacities for the government.

10 words you will hear in Panama, but may not find in your dictionary

http://www.examiner.com/x-12916-Norfolk-Panama-Travel-Examiner~y2009m6d21-10-words-you-will-hear-in-Panama-but-may-not-find-in-your-dictionary

June 21, 4:03 Pm

Julie Ray
Norfolk Panama Travel Examiner

Here are some words that you are sure to hear during your visit to Panama, but may not find in your dictionary.

Balboa: (ball-bo-a) Several things bear the name Balboa in Panama, in honor of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish explorer who crossed Panama in 1513 to become the first recorded European to see the Pacific Ocean from the New World. If you hear this word while trying to make a purchase, it is most likely in reference to the Panamanian currency. Panama utilizes the US dollar (although they have their own printed coins that are interchangeable with US coins), but calls the paper money the ‘Balboa’. Instead of writing a price with the $ sign on price tags, they may write 'B./' to indicate ‘Balboas’. Cashiers will announce your total in ‘dolares’ or ‘Balboas’. Balboa also is the name of a beer served in many restaurants and bars in Panama.

Interior: (in-tear-e-or) The areas of Panama between Panama City and Chiriqui (near the Costa Rican border). This term may be used in general conversation to reference the poor, rural areas of western Panama.

Chiva: (che-va) Most often used as the name for the small van-like buses and, in rural areas, for pick-up trucks with the bed covered and equipped with benches for passengers. Chivas travel locally between towns throughout Panama. They will stop to pick up passengers between the two designations, but usually do not travel more than two hours each direction.

Diablo Rojo: (dee-ah-blo row-ho) Old US school buses that provide transportation around Panama City (and in some other cities). The buses are characteristically decorated with dramatic pictures and streamers. The route traveled by each bus is painted on the windshield and often shouted out by the driver or helper. The cost is $0.25 to ride in Panama City, paid when you get off the bus. Diablo Rojos do travel past Tocumen International Airport during daytime hours (leaving from Albrook Bus Terminal; about $1.00 each way). Be ready to exit the bus quickly at your stop as the driver will not wait long.

Interamericana: (inter-amer-a-cana) Refers to the Pan-American Highway. In total, the highway extends from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska into the southern parts of South America (the actual ending point is disputed). In Panama the highway runs the length of western part of the country (4-lanes for nearly the whole distance) and is only interrupted by the ‘Darien Gap’ in eastern Panama, where 87 kilometers (55 miles) has not been completed.

Corredor: (core-e-door) A toll road (4-lane) most commonly traveled between Panama City and the Tocumen International Airport by tourists. It heads in both directions, so you will see signs for Corredor Norte and Corredor Sur. If you catch a taxi at the airport, you may be asked if you would like to take the ‘Corredor’ to the city. This option will help avoid potential traffic delays, but you will be charged more to cover the tolls (there are 2 between Panama City and the airport, totaling about $3.00).

Dale: (doll-e)A slang term, at times followed by the word ‘pue’ (translation: then). When on the bus, you will hear the secretary (the person who helps you on the bus) say this to the driver when you are clear to move away from a stop. Taxi drivers may call this out. It also is commonly heard coming from a group playing fútbol (soccer). The literal translation is ‘give it’, but it can mean ‘go ahead’ or ‘move it’.

Fonda: (fon-da) A small restaurant serving traditional Panamanian food. Each normally will offer a limited number of dishes each day. Meals may consist of rice, beans or lentils, and a meat (chicken or beef, at times pork or fish). Soup (chicken, beef, or fish) also may be available and you can ask for a plate of rice to accompany this (noodles are not typical). Prices are usually cheap ($1-$3/meal) and meals are served quickly compared to restaurants where large menus are offered.

Sancocho: (san-co-cho) A traditional soup. It contains meat from a farm-raised hen chicken and vegetables and herbs like yucca, ñame (a type of tuber), onions, oregano, and cilantro. The soup can be served with rice, but does not contain noodles.

Mondungo: (mon-dun-go) A dish made from the intestines of a cow. Very chewy and typically not a favorite of Americans or some Europeans! I personally cannot recommend choosing this from the menu! (Have seen this dish spelled as mundungo in some places in rural Panama).

Print this list of words and tuck it into your dictionary. I would be surprised if you did not hear (and perhaps wonder about) at least one of these words during your trip to Panama!

"We Need Fathers To Step Up"

http://www.parade.com/export/sites/default/news/2009/06/barack-obama-we-need-fathers-to-step-up.html

by President Barack Obama
published: 06/21/2009

Two days before the inauguration, PARADE published a letter from Barack Obama to his daughters about what he hoped for them and all the children of America.

The letter attracted international attention.

On this Father's Day, we asked the President to reflect on what fatherhood means to him. [Get the story behind the story from PARADE Editor Janice Kaplan.]

As the father of two young girls who have shown such poise, humor, and patience in the unconventional life into which they have been thrust, I mark this Father’s Day—our first in the White House—with a deep sense of gratitude. One of the greatest benefits of being President is that I now live right above the office.

I see my girls off to school nearly every morning and have dinner with them nearly every night.

It is a welcome change after so many years out on the campaign trail and commuting between Chicago and Capitol Hill. But I observe this Father’s Day not just as a father grateful to be present in my daughters’ lives but also as a son who grew up without a father in my own life.

My father left my family when I was 2 years old, and I knew him mainly from the letters he wrote and the stories my family told. And while I was lucky to have two wonderful grandparents who poured everything they had into helping my mother raise my sister and me, I still felt the weight of his absence throughout my childhood.

As an adult, working as a community organizer and later as a legislator, I would often walk through the streets of Chicago’s South Side and see boys marked by that same absence—boys without supervision or direction or anyone to help them as they struggled to grow into men.

I identified with their frustration and disengagement—with their sense of having been let down. In many ways, I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence—both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill.

We can do everything possible to provide good jobs and good schools and safe streets for our kids, but it will never be enough to fully make up the difference. That is why we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one.

As fathers, we need to be involved in our children’s lives not just when it’s convenient or easy, and not just when they’re doing well—but when it’s difficult and thankless, and they’re struggling. That is when they need us most. And it’s not enough to just be physically present.

Too often, especially during tough economic times like these, we are emotionally absent: distracted, consumed by what’s happening in our own lives, worried about keeping our jobs and paying our bills, unsure if we’ll be able to give our kids the same opportunities we had.

Our children can tell. They know when we’re not fully there. And that disengagement sends a clear message—whether we mean it or not—about where among our priorities they fall. So we need to step out of our own heads and tune in. We need to turn off the television and start talking with our kids, and listening to them, and understanding what’s going on in their lives.

We need to set limits and expectations. We need to replace that video game with a book and make sure that homework gets done. We need to say to our daughters, Don’t ever let images on TV tell you what you are worth, because I expect you to dream without limit and reach for your goals.

We need to tell our sons, Those songs on the radio may glorify violence, but in our house, we find glory in achievement, self-respect, and hard work. We need to realize that we are our children’s first and best teachers. When we are selfish or inconsiderate, when we mistreat our wives or girlfriends, when we cut corners or fail to control our tempers, our children learn from that—and it’s no surprise when we see those behaviors in our schools or on our streets.

But it also works the other way around. When we work hard, treat others with respect, spend within our means, and contribute to our communities, those are the lessons our children learn.

And that is what so many fathers are doing every day—coaching soccer and Little League, going to those school assemblies and parent-teacher conferences, scrimping and saving and working that extra shift so their kids can go to college. They are fulfilling their most fundamental duty as fathers: to show their children, by example, the kind of people they want them to become.

It is rarely easy. There are plenty of days of struggle and heartache when, despite our best efforts, we fail to live up to our responsibilities. I know I have been an imperfect father. I know I have made mistakes. I have lost count of all the times, over the years, when the demands of work have taken me from the duties of fatherhood. There were many days out on the campaign trail when I felt like my family was a million miles away, and I knew I was missing moments of my daughters’ lives that I’d never get back. It is a loss I will never fully accept.

But on this Father’s Day, I think back to the day I drove Michelle and a newborn Malia home from the hospital nearly 11 years ago—crawling along, miles under the speed limit, feeling the weight of my daughter’s future resting in my hands.

I think about the pledge I made to her that day: that I would give her what I never had—that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father. I knew that day that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless she had every opportunity in hers. And I knew I had an obligation, as we all do, to help create those opportunities and leave a better world for her and all our children.

On this Father’s Day, I am recommitting myself to that work, to those duties that all parents share: to build a foundation for our children’s dreams, to give them the love and support they need to fulfill them, and to stick with them the whole way through, no matter what doubts we may feel or difficulties we may face. That is my prayer for all of us on this Father’s Day, and that is my hope for this nation in the months and years ahead.

Natá, Coclé, Panama: Hidden history in the Interior

Are you interested in history or enjoy beautiful architecture? Would you like to attend a service in an ancient church? Or perhaps you are seeking a break during your travels towards the western part of Panama? I encourage a stop in Natá, Coclé. Natá is one of the oldest cities in Panama, established in 1622, and is home to one of the oldest surviving churches of the New World.

Natá, originally settled by the Spanish, is a quaint community of about 6000 residents. Natá has a bank, Western Union office, pharmacy, a store with construction supplies, and a couple of small fondo restaurants.

It is located on the Interamerican (Pan-American) Highway between Penonomé and Aguadulce (two of the largest towns located in Coclé, both also located on the highway). You can arrive from Panama City by taking the Aguadulce bus (or any bus heading further to the west) and asking to be dropped off in Natá ($6-$7/person). You also can take a small chiva (van-like bus) from Aguadulce or Penonomé (~$2/person) or arrive by private vehicle. Located, in the lowlands, be prepared for hot temperatures and afternoon rains, especially during the rainy season.

You can visit the church by turning left (when traveling west) in the center of town and heading straight until you see the large, white tower or the park across the street. Ask a local person to point you towards the iglesia if you don’t find it right away. The church, a National Historic Landmark, is in great condition thanks to continuous restoration efforts by the local people. Catholic services are held daily and festivals are frequent events.

PRPA and Panama Canal Authority co-promoting Asia route

Friday, June 12, 2009, 4:00pm EDT

Philadelphia Business Journal - by Athena D. Merritt

Staff Writer

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and Panama Canal Authority agreed on Friday to jointly promote a shipping route between Asia and the city’s port via the Panama Canal.

The agreement, which is renewable after two years, will include joint marketing activities and sharing best practices and information, including market studies, information on improvements and/or modernization efforts and personnel training programs.

“The strategic alliance with the Panama Canal Authority will increase job opportunities at our regional ports and attract new business,” says PRPA Board Chairman John H. Estey.

“This collaboration aligns with our mission to become one of the most competitive U.S. East Coast seaports and has an increasingly marked contribution to the economic health of the state.”

Half of all of the cargo PRPA handled last year (1,906,343 long tons) was either on its way to or from the Canal last year, which is up 17,000 long tons over the prior year.

Expansion projects are under way in both areas. PRPA is sponsoring the five-to-seven year project to deeper the Delaware River Main Channel from 40 feet to 45 feet. The Panama Canal Expansion Program, expected to be completed in 2014, will add a new lane of traffic along the Canal that will allow for wider ships and double capacity.

Rethinking Panama

Eric Farnsworth
http://www.as-coa.org/article.php?id=1694

Poder
June 2009

Score one for pragmatism over ideology in the ongoing fight for the soul of Latin America.On May 3, Panamanians elected a new president, businessman Ricardo Martinelli, by a wide margin over his closest rival, Balbi­na Herrera, a former housing minister linked to Manuel Noriega and, more recently, shady campaign donors.

The Panamanian people, tired of exploding crime and an imploding economy, turned to a candidate outside the two major political parties who promised to use his business acumen to restore Panama’s recent fortunes.It will be a tall, but not impossible task.First, the good news.

Martinelli has made a fortune in supermarkets but he’s no stranger to politics nor to management of Panama’s crown jewel, the canal. As former Minister for Canal Affairs and also Chairman of the body that oversees the canal, Martinelli has moved seamlessly among virtually all parties in Panama, and with the international community as well, particularly the United States.

He understands Panama’s geography as a crossroads and rightful place in the global economy, and has been an instrumental voice in the massive ca­nal expansion project that, once completed, will allow Panama to compete for an ever larger share of global commerce that currently avoids the canal because it cannot handle the largest cargo loads.On the political side, Martinelli’s victory represents a cry by Panamanians for practical solutions to daily concerns.

Panama is not Nicaragua, Ecuador, or Boliv­ia—and Panamanians know their future lies with active participation in global commerce, rather than ideologi­cal hook-ups with anti-U.S. populists.

But now, the President-elect must deliver. In addition to spiking street crime and corruption, which the new Panamanian administration must quickly get under control, perhaps with increased Merida program assistance from the United States, Panama has been buffeted by the global economic recession.

Explosive recent growth of around 9 percent annually has been cut by two thirds, and the pace of recovery is uncertain.In the first instance, Martinelli will seek to re­store growth. He has pledged to go forward with the canal expansion project as a means to juice Panama’s economy and position the country for the future. That’s the right move.

At the same time, he has said that the signing and implemen­tation of the FTA negotiated with the United States will be his top priority.Under normal circumstances, conclusion of the trade agreement should be a slam dunk in Washington. It’s non-controversial to all but the most ardent anti-traders. It would link a small, services-based economy to the world’s largest economy, hardly a threat to U.S. economic stand­ing. Along with the pending U.S.-Colombia FTA, it would bridge the gap of free trade from Central to South America.

And it would be the next logical step to build a bilateral relationship that has mir­rored the historical arc of U.S. relations with Latin America generally: from gunboat diplomacy at the birth of the nation to questions of sovereignty, dictatorship, drugs, and finally partnership build­ing commerce and mutual respect.But we are not living under normal circum­stances.

Arguably, both Panama and the United States made a significant tactical mistake by leaving Panama out of the original DR-CAFTA and seek­ing to do a stand-alone bilateral agreement. Such a move was always risky, but concerns were brushed aside. In the meantime, the makeup of the U.S. Con­gress changed significantly.

As more trade skeptics were elected, the opponents of trade continued their relentless a lacks without an effective coun­tervailing push-back from the business and policy communities, and the global economy tanked.The Obama Administration has now suggested it wants to move forward with the Panama FTA sooner rather than later, but the lack of a defined timetable is troubling, particularly now that its U.S.-based critics are urging that Panama be included in the Administration’s announced push to close down foreign tax havens. If it weren’t this, it would be something else; the bottom line is that Washington these days is a hard place to be for trade, and unless the White House actively gets behind the agree­ment, the US-Panama FTA won’t move.

But with everything else on the Administration’s plate in the current moment, that’s a tough political call to make, particularly since the Summit of the Americas is now out of the way and there are few other action-forcing events on the horizon beyond the 20th anniversary of Operation Just Cause, on December 20.

Like outgoing President Martin Torrijos, Presi­dent-elect Martinelli sees the FTA as an anchor of Panama’s long-term economic health, an invest­ment promoter and job creator that will help build out Panama’s economy to take full advantage of its strategic position. Together, once the global econo­my recovers, canal expansion and the bilateral trade agreement will give Panama a compelling competi­tive advantage. But we have to get there first.

This piece was originally published in PODER.

Full steam ahead for Panama Canal expansion

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Shipping/10319447.html

Los Angeles Times-Washington Post

Published: June 03, 2009, 23:36

The economic downturn has stalled big construction projects across the globe, but in Panama, smoke-belching steam shovels and dredges work around the clock on what people here call simply "la ampliacion" or the expansion.

As soon as this month, officials will award the principal contract for the $5.25-billion (Dh19.27 billion) expansion of the landmark Panama Canal, a project that will probably alter global shipping patterns and cement this Central American nation's place as a centre of global logistics.

"This is a financial crisis, and there has been a decline in ship traffic, but we are very much on time and on target," said Panama Canal Authority chief executive Alberto Aleman, addressing rumours that the global recession could cause the project to miss its 2014 scheduled completion date.

The authority is on the verge of choosing among three international consortiums, including one led by San Francisco-based Bechtel, to build two sets of locks to accommodate massive container cargo ships. Dubbed post-Panamax, the super-sized vessels are capable of carrying three times more cargo than ships now transiting the canal.

The construction of the two new locks - one at the waterway's Caribbean entrance, the other on the Pacific Ocean - will cost $3 billion or more, take five years to complete and require an army of 5,000 construction workers.

The winning consortium is expected to use the contract's marquee value as one of the world's highest-profile construction endeavours as a calling card to bid on other major infrastructure projects around the globe.

The canal authority maintains the expanded canal will make Panama an even more important transit hub by attracting a bigger share of Asian container freight destined for the eastern US Currently, 70 per cent of that cargo is offloaded at Los Angeles, Long Beach, California, and other North American ports and moved by rail or truck across the country.

"There will be a migration of freight to the canal, the implication being that Los Angeles and Long Beach ports will take the hit," said Mark Page of Drewry Shipping Consultants in London. "The US rail lines will also suffer."

Despite the recession gripping the US and other destination countries, the 9 per cent drop in global container traffic forecast for 2009, and a financing scheme that assumes rising traffic and tolls, Panama's Aleman said the expansion project is moving forward and will not be deterred.

"We factored in a margin of error and we are ahead of the projections," he said.

A new four-mile access channel on the Pacific side is 85 per cent excavated and dredging is under way. The new segment will be much deeper than the existing canal, allowing passage of 402-metre long ships carrying 14,000 cargo containers, compared with maximum 4,500-container ships that now transit the 80-kilometre waterway.

The winning contractor will be awarded a $50 million bonus if the expansion is done by 2014, the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal's completion by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The canal expansion project is already having a ripple effect in Southern California. The Los Angeles and Long Beach ports each have launched expansion and streamlining projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars to improve their competitiveness with an expanded Panama Canal.

"We're using the down time to improve our infrastructure," said Los Angeles port marketing director Mike DiBernardo, referring to his facility's 16 per cent decline in container traffic over the first three months of 2009. The port's plans include the expansion of three terminals and improved wharf access for rail lines.

Long Beach port spokesman Art Wong said his facility has put in motion a 10-year plan to invest $1.6 billion in upgrades of piers and rail access, a response he attributes partly to the tougher competition the port expects from the Panama Canal, as well as from port projects in Mexico and Canada.

But global shipping companies are wary of the rising tolls the canal is charging to fund the expansion. Michael Kristiansen, Latin America operations chief for Danish shipping giant Maersk, said the expanded canal will divert some US freight away from US West Coast ports, but how much will depend on transit times and the impact of the canal's toll hikes.

Another factor is whether US ports on the Eastern Seaboard make changes to accommodate the biggest ships. Ports including Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Miami are currently too shallow, and the Bayonne Bridge currently blocks their access to the Newark, New Jersey, port, the most important in the New York area.

As a defensive measure, Maersk and other shipping lines serving the Asia to eastern US routes are taking a close look at westward routes through the Suez Canal. Although Maersk is not yet diverting traffic away from Panama, it plans to open a Suez route for post-Panamax ships in the near future, Kristiansen said.

In addition to the Bechtel-led consortium that includes Japanese partners Taisei Corp and Mitsubishi Corp, two other groups also placed bids in March for the contract. They include teams led by Grupo ACS of Spain and another led by Sacyr Vallehermoso of Spain and Impregilo of Italy.

The locks will employ a "water savings basin" that will allow recycling of 60 per cent of the water used to fill them. Canals in Germany currently use the system, said Jorge de la Guardia, the canal authority's locks project manager.

He said the project so far has not experienced serious set-backs such as those faced by original canal builders. Those included malaria and yellow fever that killed thousands and the difficulties of digging through highly unstable "cockroach shale", which kept sliding into the excavations.

Still, rumours that the canal project might face delays gained momentum when the authority extended the deadline for proposals to March from December and when a fourth bidder, a French-Brazilian consortium, dropped out of the bidding.

"You have to look at the long term," Aleman, of the canal authority, said. "Yes we're in a financial crisis but there have been others in the past. And Panama still has the best route for Asian traffic."

Panama Real Estate: Hopes Run High for the New President

Published on:

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Written by: Yemi Kifle

Panama's most recent election was full of surprises. For one thing, Ricardo Martinelli, who in his first presidential bid in 2004 only got 5.3 percent of the vote, won the contest. Equally striking is the fact that Mr. Martinelli won 61 percent of the votes, making him the first president in the country's modern history to be elected into office with an absolute majority.

So, who is this man that has caught Panama's ruling party, the PRD (Revolutionary Democratic Party), by complete surprise? The 57 year old Ricardo Martinelli is a conservative tycoon who owns a spectrum of businesses including supermarkets, banks, and agricultural companies, according to Time magazine. The U.S. educated candidate campaigned promising change and voters decided he is the man that can deliver. "The Martinelli victory breaks the Latin Left’s 2009 electoral winning streak of Venezuela, El Salvador, and Ecuador," said Ray Walser, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative American think tank.

The fact that the ruling party's candidate had to fight accusations of corruption during the campaign is sure to have helped Martinelli. It probably also made a difference that he was once the chairman of the board of directors at the Panama Canal. The Canal is often cited as an example of the kind of efficiency Panamaians want from their government. Martinelli was also the Minister of Canal Affairs when, in 2006, voters said yes to a $5.25 billion investment into the sector. This canal expansion project, which will be finished in 2014, has generated over 2,000 new jobs with many more expected to follow.

Martinelli and his party, Democratic Change, hold the majority of seats in the National Assembly. This puts him in a position where he can implement his reforms, including budget cuts and business friendly regulations regarding taxes and labor, once he takes office on July 1. If he carries though, international investors, real estate or otherwise, will likely give Panama an even closer look. He is also expected to push for the passing of a bi-lateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Panama. "The average voter in Panama is betting on a dynamic and productive relationship with the U.S. and has demonstrated confidence in continued strong ties between the two nations," said Walser.

Real Estate in Panama City and beyond

The current state of the property market in Panama City is nothing to envy. The city's real estate sector is in crisis. Sales have practically ground to a halt, according to Sam Taliaferro, who was recently interviewed by the New York Times. Mr. Taliaferro, who is the author of the widely read Panama Investor Blog, said he has yet been able to sell properties he bought on speculation. Prices in the capital are also dropping. "In a building in Punta Pacifica that I happen to own property in, they were selling at $2,400 a square meter as of, say, six or eight months ago. Now I can’t sell it at $1,300 a square meter," Taliaferro told the Times. Anyone who is interested in buying in Panama City should have plenty of options and opportunities to negotiate the purchase price. In fact, for those willing to look and haggle with developers, there are a lot of choices. In addition, the $200,000 to $400,000 market that was popular over the past five years has disappeared, according to Mr. Taliaferro. That market, he argues, was highly dependent on the abundant credit conditions that existed before the subprime mortgage crisis. The new market that is now emerging in Panama's real estate sector is one that is made up of well-heeled clients in search of a safe place to park their money.

Looking ahead

Panama's president "happens to own the largest supermarket chain in the country. But he’s also a businessman and has a number of buildings and towers that he has under construction. So he will do everything, obviously, to keep that machine going as long as possible," Taliaferro told the times. In addition, the finishing of the Panama Canal will mean it can process large ships that can carry up to 12,000 20 feet long containers, according to Time magazine. There is a lot of hope that with the help of an efficient and trustworthy government in place, Panama will become the regional Singapore.

Alcatel-Lucent to deploy all IP network for Claro Panama

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=28722&email=html

Hot on the heels of its March 2009 commercial launch, Panamanian mobile operator Claro Panama has contracted French-US hardware vendor Alcatel-Lucent to build its all-IP nationwide mobile backhaul network.

Claro claims that the new network will enable it to expand the range of multimedia services it offers, as well as increase the quality of its high speed internet service.

Under the terms of the deal Alca-Lu will provide its IP/MPLS solution, rolling out a full IP backhaul network designed for optimised costs and scalability. Additionally, the vendor will also be responsible for the design, installation and maintenance of the infrastructure.

Commenting on the deal Victor Agnellini president of Alca-Lu’s activities in the Caribbean and Latin American regions said: ‘By converging all services on a full IP mobile network Claro Panama will reduce its transport infrastructure costs while maintaining the reliability and quality of service necessary for delivering premium multimedia services to its mobile users.’

Panama: Graffiti on wheels

http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/06/03/panama-graffiti-on-wheels/

A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

PANAMA CITY – Liriola Miranda, a college statistics professor, steps aboard Mr. Chiriqui, an old school bus blazing with splashes of red and green that give homage to the owner’s home province, Chiriqui, in Panama.

“The buses are an expression of identity,” she says of Panama City’s main transport system – a fleet of US hand-me-downs known affectionately in Panama as “red devils,” both for their hues and their hastiness as they fly down the capital’s roads, honking in search of passengers.

Sometimes the colorful expressions are patriotic, other times it’s something entirely different, Ms. Miranda explains, shaking her head as another “red devil” passes by, decorated with images of bikini-clad women in both back windows.

The “red devils,” painted down to the hubcaps, have turned Panama City’s streets into a whirl of bright reds and oranges and blues. Some are emblazoned with superheroes and saints, pictures of Colombian singer Shakira, or epic scenes of warriors fighting off lions.

Bus décor is a mixture of romanticism and manliness. Many are named after the owner’s girlfriend or wife – but they are also painted with macho slogans that shout “force,” “power,” and “thunder” or instructions like “If you don’t know the rules, I’ll teach them to you.”

But now the transport system, which is both ridiculed as anachronistic and celebrated (like the privately owned taxis called “tap-taps” that crowd Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince) as a form of public urban art, faces an uncertain fate.

The winner in Panama’s presidential election early in May, supermarket tycoon and right-leaning Ricardo Martinelli, made modernizing the public transportation system a main campaign pledge – calling for a Panama City subway to alleviate the traffic jams that have become chronic throughout the capital.

Carlos Diaz, a bus driver for 18 years, says he supports a new fleet of buses. “Let the new ones come,” says Mr. Diaz, behind the wheel of Mr. Chiriqui, his friend’s bus. “We’ll paint the new ones!” he says, smiling, before closing his doors and driving off.

For Miranda, it’s a mixed bag. “On one hand it is primitive. Panama is a city with money, and we deserve a good public transportation system,” she says, adding that her cellphone was stolen from her on her commute back from work recently.

Transportation consistently ranked as one of voters’ top concerns, and helped knock out the incumbent party. On the other hand, a new fleet will replace one of the last remaining idiosyncrasies of Panama City – not unlike the way a chain store drives out the local mom-and-pop shop.

“There is nowhere else in the world you can find these [buses],” says Miranda wistfully, but then perks up. “When they get rid of them, I’ll try to buy one as a souvenir,” she says. Or better yet, she brainstorms later, she can transport one to her home province and start a mini-tourist operation. “That way their memory will live on.”

Maryland Port Administration inks deal with Panama Canal Authority

Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 2:32pm EDT

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2009/06/01/daily28.html

Baltimore Business Journal - by Scott Dance Staff

The Panama Canal Authority has signed an agreement with the Maryland Port Administration to encourage shippers to visit Baltimore and other East Coast ports via the canal.

The deal could bring more business from Asia to Maryland ports. Meanwhile, Port of Baltimore officials are working to prepare the region’s terminals for an uptick in business that could come when the canal is widened in 2014.

“With the current economic climate, it has never been more important to provide optimal customer service, and this agreement will enable us to fully cooperate and work together for continued trade between Latin America, Asia and United States,” canal authority CEO Alberto Alemán Zubieta said in a statement.

The MPA is currently shopping for a private-sector partner to enter a long-term lease at Seagirt Marine Terminal, the state’s main container cargo terminal handler. MPA leaders say a public-private partnership would help boost business at the port. It’s the fastest way to pay for a 50-foot berth needed to accommodate larger ships that will come through the widened canal, MPA Executive Director James J. White has said.

The Port of Baltimore is one of two East Coast ports with a 50-foot channel, according to the MPA.