(A friend of mine asked me to post this for her, and so…)
-By Mauro Zúñiga Araúz
When a President is placed in that position by drug trafficking, an inescapable commitment is acquired by the two parties. That is what is currently happening with the President of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal. It is a well-known secret, both nationally and internationally, that Mr. Martinelli Berrocal is linked to the drug mafia, be it through money laundering and through drug trafficking. His million dollar campaign was funded largely by drug trafficking. His cousin, Ramon Martinelli Corro, Treasurer of the ruling party, as well as one of his mistresses, Ninoska Escalante, are imprisoned in Mexico for drug trafficking. Colombian citizen David Murcia Guzman, arrested in the USA for money laundering, was one of his campaign contributors.
The President’s commitment to the drug mafia was very clear. Once sworn in power with full control of the Legislature and the Judiciary, the Comptroller’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office, he intended to approve in the National Assembly, a law on Public Private Partnership (PPP), which would entitle him exclusively to give the international underworld all services provided by the State, such as concessions to exploit natural resources and the ability to perform the necessary expropriations. Indeed, Martinelli Berrocal sent Bill 349 (PPP) to the National Assembly. Articles 3 and 4 of the Bill define what can happen to the private sector: all of it, except financial institutions. They can privatize: the Panama Canal, the Social Security Agency, Public Hospitals, Education, the water utility, rivers, beaches, the National Police, the mines, the Primary Health Care, Tourism, the Institute of Culture, Protected Areas, the National Land Authority, roads, the borders, the National Lottery, the Public Registry; in short, all services provided by the State. Articles 6 and 7 stipulate what the governing body is: the President and the officials he can appoint and fire. The decisions of this body are absolute, final and not subject to any control whatsoever. We are talking about the most harmful bill that has ever been submitted to the National Assembly in 108 years of our country’s life as a republic.
We need to add something that is already known: the large cross-link between International Financial Capital, Major Transnational Corporations and Drug Trafficking. The drug trade injects 700 billion dollars a year into Financial Capital. The two banks which launder the most money are the Chase Manhattan Bank and HSBC. Some investigators include Scotiabank. Large transnational corporations launder money, buying it from the drug trade at soft interests. They justify it by saying that if they don’t do so, the competition will, which would cause the costs and prices of the products or services to rise.
Upon approval of the PPP project in the first debate, the Panamanian doctors began an indefinite strike. At the time of writing this article, other guilds were joining the strike. The President’s attitude, given his mental disorder, which becomes deeper every day, is the same one he assumes when facing crises: lying and contradicting himself. In a span of three days he has changed his position four times. The only truth that he has made public is that he rules the Legislative Branch.
The Republic of Panama is on the verge of becoming a corporation controlled by drug traffickers. Martinelli Berrocal will have no qualms about carrying out his project even if it means he has to suppress protesters. Finally, the remilitarization in Panama is not aimed at narcotics control, an activity promoted by the Pentagon and protected by the CIA, but precisely to stifle social protests. Neither will it come as a surprise to Panamanians, since we live in a civilian dictatorship, backed up by the United States, that the country be surrendered to the drug trade without the need for any law.
Martinelli’s popularity has dropped dramatically. The dissatisfaction and outrage of the Panamanians grow every day. The medical strike could ignite the powder keg. Anything can happen.
Mauro Zúñiga Arauz was born in Panama City in 1943. Received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Panama in 1968, specializing in Internal Medicine. Arauz worked at the Rafael Hernandez Hospital in the city of David from 1973 to 1976, then moved to the Service of Internal Medicine at Metropolitan Hospital Complex Arnulfo Arias Madrid Panama City until 2007, when retired from clinical practice . He was Special Professor Internal Medicine at the University of Panama and worked in private practice in San Fernando Clinic. He is currently a researcher at the University of Panama.