Larry's Central American Travels

What's New In Panama?

Are We In Panama?

The other day, out on the highway right in front of Kentucky Fried and Pizza Hut just past TGI Fridays, a Chevy Pick Up covered with Herbalife stickers cut off a pink Cadillac with the Mark Kay personalized plates as it turned into the GM new car dealership.  ¿Qué?

Yes, It Is Panama

I have mentioned before that the locals are very proud of the Town Center Park.  They take great efforts to avoid problems often associated with parks in this part of the world - beggars, drugs, hookers, etc.  In David they take it a step or two further.  No sitting on walls (that is what benches are for), no bicycles in the park (even if being pushed), no pets, no horseplay, no trash, no smoking, no.., no ...

I saw the kicker Tuesday night.  About 8PM, two uniformed officers (turned out to be park security 'rent-a-cops') came out of the park dragging a bum (on his back) -both had him by the collar.  One of them held up his hand to stop the on-coming traffic, and they drug the guy across the street and deposited him on the sidewalk in front of the closed department store. The guy was real drunk and dressed 'in bum'.  The officers then returned to the park.

What was unusual?  One of the cars first in line that they had stopped was a police cruiser (real police).  The security cops had just waved at them, and evidently they decided that the park cops did not need any help.

Some Things Are Just Not Simple.

Bjorn Lomborg is the director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center.  This organization has studied environmental issues and their impact for years.  The organization intentionally ducks the debate about warming  trends, polar ice melts, etc. and studies instead what impacts environmental programs have had and makes projections about what proposed programs will reap.  Some of their results are interesting.

As the 40th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, Lomborg suggests the 'Chicken Little' people need to quiet down - a recent quote from Earth Day leaders was "The world is in greater peril than ever."  Lomborg notes that in the last 40 years in every developed country the air is more breathable and the water is more drinkable than in 1970.  In much of the world deforestation had turned to reforestation, the percentage of malnutrition has been reduced and ever-more people have access to clean water and sanitation.

Lomborg's most recent study reached an alarming conclusion, "There is a disturbing gulf between the chief concerns of rich countries and the problems that actually do the most damage to the world."  What, you say?  Well did you know that the major environmental issue in the world is indoor air pollution?  In poor countries, 2.5 billion people rely on 'biomass fuels' - wood, waste and dung - to cook and keep themselves warm.  Every year the resulting pollution will kill over 1.3 million of them, mostly mothers and their children. Switching to fossil fuel would dramatically improve the lives of more than a third of the world's population.  However, it is not likely that you are going to hear any Earth Day speakers promoting greater use of fossil fuels in poor countries.  Lomborg suggests that "it's both impractical and immoral to insist that the only solution is for everybody to drastically cut carbon emissions.  Until we can offer inexpensive alternatives, we are asking the world's poor people to continue lives of misery and deprivation."  (I mention this because research also shows that serious long-term illness from wood fires in inefficient stoves is a big problem in Panama's interior, not to mention the deforestation impacts)

Along those 'Did You Know' lines - It is estimated that Google's daily carbon footprint (running and powering servers, routers, computer banks, etc.) is four or five times that of the entire world's airline industry.

Al Gore's personal annual carbon footprint is estimated to exceed some small U.S. cities.  His huge house combined with his air travel (often on charter flights where he is one of the few passengers) to tour the world preaching conservation burns a lot of carbon energy.

Order My Book Yet?

 

The book is still available only from the publisher.  The link below will take you to the order page.

Click Here To Order 'Angels in Panama'

 

Till Next Time.  Pura Vida.

 

 

 

Straight To You From Panama!

'No Uniform Day' In The Schools

For the first time that locals can remember, on Friday (June 12) students in the public schools throughout Panama were not required to wear their school uniforms.  The only catch was that they had to wear their favorite team's T-shirt or jersey.  Favorite team?  Team jerseys?

That large exhale you heard was the entire world (except the U.S.) welcoming the start of the Football (soccer) World Cup Tournament.  The fact that Panama's team did not make the finals appears to have done little to dampen the excitement that sweeps the planet every four years.

Based on my unscientific sample taken yesterday it appears that the folks here in the David area are equally split between Brazil and Argentina.  There are a surprising number of people who were wearing England's jerseys.  I assumed that was because England was playing the U.S. today.  However my friends insist it is because the English Soccer League gets so much TV coverage here during their regular season that half of Chiriqui Province are rabid fans of Manchester United.

The one thing you can be certain of is that for the next month the country of Panama will come to a screeching halt because there is a game on TV - regardless of who is playing!

'The Dunce Of The Day' Award

I recently had my early morning tranquility on the hotel balcony ruined by one more 'guest pest genius' who took it upon himself to educate me on the the safe and untouched portions of Mexico - a list of places away from the drug wars and lawlessness that makes the headlines in the news.  This genius' favorite example was Cancun.  Oh!

Hello!!!!  Gregorio Sanchez, the mayor of Cancun, Mexico's most popular resort city, is leading the polls in his run to become the governor of that province. The irony of this situation is that Sanchez is running his election campaign from his cell in federal prison. He is charged with aiding not one but two major drug cartels (Guess he doesn't want to show favoritism, huh?)  Prosecutors say he stashed $2.5 million in half a dozen bank accounts and was actively laundering cash for the cartels.

Mexicans in-the-know are probably not surprised by a Cancun mayor with problems - five of the city's last seven mayors have been indicted in drug cartel related scandals.  The two others were assassinated in what are consider to be drug gang retaliatory strikes.

Another World Record Set

Last week a Japanese brokerage set a record on the global coffee commodities auction when they posted the winning bid for 100 lbs. of coffee. Their winning bid was an all-time wholesale high price of $173 a pound.  The coffee producer was a Panamanian company up the road from David in Boquete.  The press release announcing the sale also noted that the retail price of coffee is normally approximately twice the wholesale price.  Is my math right.  Doesn't that work out to $346 a pound.  Jesus!  And, I thought Starbuck's prices where ridiculous!

Till Next Time.  Pura Vida

My book is currently only available from the publisher on their web site.  This is the link to order.

Order `Angels In Panama`Here

The book should be available from both Amazon and Borders by the first of the month!

 

The View From Here

Let's Talk Immigration

I have lived for the last three years in a country where the immigration laws are fairly simple, straight forward, and benign - although they do vary somewhat by your country of origin.  When an American enters the country, whether at an airport, a seaport or a border crossing, the Immigration officials scan your passport into the computer, check for any 'irregularities' in their historical data base and then stamp your passport.  You are now good to travel anywhere in the country, at any time, for the next 90 days.  Then you have to leave the country for 72 hours, at which point you can return for an additional 90 days.  This cycle can be repeated indefinitely. U.S. citizens are not required to carry their passport at all times, but are required to carry a photocopy of the passport cover page (the one with the photo), and the page that shows the dated immigration stamp.

Nice right?  Sure is.  Now what do I NOT get from our friendly allies here in the nation of Panama? I don't get health care, unemployment or any other government support.  And, if I go to a hospital emergency room, and I can't prove upfront that I can pay the bill, I turn over my passport to them.  Therefore, I am not going far until the bill is payed.

Spanish is the national language, period - and no one really cares what my 2nd language is, or what kind of problem the language requirement cause me.  You want a driver's license?  Better bone up because the test is in Spanish.  So are most government documents and directions. (Thank God for bilingual ATM machine!) You need some official documents from the U.S.?  Make sure they are certified by the right U.S. official and properly notarized (The government directions are very specific, albeit in Spanish). And then be prepared to cough up the $$s to have them translated into Spanish and the 'new' copies notarized properly on this end.

There are some English speaking schools but they were established years ago for Panamanian children and are not targeted for immigrants. There are waiting lists. And there are no special courses for immigrants struggling with the Panamanian school.

Regardless of my status in Panama (even if I go to the trouble and expense of becoming a resident), I can not work in Panama.  To even open a bank account, I will need a letter of reference from my bank in the U.S., a current credit report and a letter of reference from a Panamanian citizen, all of which have to be properly notarized.

There is an immigration checkpoint on the Pan American highway three miles from the border (on both the Panama and Costa Rica side).  If they stop your bus coming from the border (which they do about 50 % of the time), does the immigration officer who gets on the bus check everyone's status?  No, he checks the papers of the obvious foreigners- the obvious tourists!  And, guess what happened when there was a big hoop-de-do a few months ago about some U.S. tourist not leaving every 90 days (some were choosing instead to pay the $50 fine when they did leave).  They immigration officials and police officers started stopping gringos on the street checking passports. Just because they looked like they might be Americans. Profiling?  No, common sense!  Duh!

They also changed the laws covering people who don't abide by the law.  Now you face deportation.  Just like if you break any other Panamanian law.  Anything short of a major felony, Panama just deports you.  And, if you are a 'world traveler' type, that is serious.  Panama has reciprocal agreements with 30-some other countries.  Get deported from any of them and you can't enter any of the others - ever!

I wish you could all have been here in Panama when this Arizona immigration law blew up.  You should have seen the reactions of Panamanians to the remarks by Mexican President Cauldron to the U.S. Congress.  Why?  Well, illegal immigrants to the U.S. from Central Americans don't come through Ellis Island - they have to transit Mexico.  And Mexico's treatment of illegals from Central Americans captured in Mexico is historically disgraceful.  Until just recently, illegals caught in Mexico were automatically felons, headed straight to the infamous Mexican prison system.

I recommend two things should happen:

1. Cauldon should go home and address HIScongress and get a law passed to match the U.S. dollar-for-dollar in building the border fence.  Then Mexico should assume responsibility for keeping Mexicans in Mexico.   (And Cauldon can take all the standing, cheering U.S. Democratic congressmen with him to continue their cheer-leading duties there in Mexico)

2. The U.S. will then take responsibility to stop the movement of weapons to Mexico.  Then Obama can see that a law gets passed that  makes it illegal for people in the U.S. to send money from the U.S. to Mexican citizens, and shuts-down all the conduits (Western Union, etc.) that accommodates that traffic.  (Cauldron may have a different view of illegal immigration when his economy is not being pumped up by a reported $1 billion a year.)

Then Obama should issue an executive order that would require that all government officials should be required to read a bill before they comment on it.  That would save the embarrassment of high rankin officials screaming incorrectly about the Arizona law's profiling potential.  It also might cause them to read the similar federal law, the law that directs DEA and Immigration officers' actions - a law that outlines procedures allowing stops of people basically based on racial profiles.

By the way, Homeland Security now reports a large influx of OTM coming through the border illegally in recent months.  OTM?  Their term for ´other than Mexicans´.  Big influx of people from places like Somalia and Yemen. Hmm.  You know, the Al Queda breeding groumds. Suppose the ´No-Fly List´will become even more worthless?

Till Next Time.  Pura Vida