This Just In – An Earthquake
While I was putting the finishing touches on this blog posting, we had an earthquake.
The details as reported by the USGS: “An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale occurred at 10:51 am this morning near Panama. The epicenter was located 94 miles to the south of David, Panama.”
I was sitting on the balcony proofreading and statrted getting jiggled. Oops. You never realized how high up this balcony is until you look down at the street below during a minor earthquake.
Panamanian Politics
You think U.S. politics are a mess? You ain’t seen nothing yet. In Panama it gets bloody, and to the sideline observer, if often appears that the party in power’s only motivation is posturing for the next election.
Seemingly forever, President Martinelli and Juan Carlos Varela , Vice President (but a member of the Panameñistas Party), have been ‘doing a dance’ as Varela attempts to position himself to become the next president (Martinelli can not serve a second consecutive term). Martinelli would like to foil that plan and block him, but must do it in a way that he can hang onto Varela supporters in the Assembly. Those supporters are critical because it is that coalition that gives Martinelli the much needed majority in the assembly that allows him to basically run the country as he wishes.
After months of battles followed by ‘kiss-and-make up’ cycles on a variety of issues, Martinelli and Varela had a face-to-face sit down and cut a deal. Now everybody is happy and the battle is over. Well maybe. Here’s the latest.
About two weeks ago president Ricardo Martinelli went to Spain on a state visit. (Martinelli shown with Spain’s King Juan Carlos) Apparently he has not yet returned to Panama, presumably he went off somewhere on vacation once he was done in Spain. The salient point is that he's been out of the country for more than ten consecutive days.
The problem is that the Panamanian Constitution, Article 183 says: “ If the President is absent for more than ten days, the First Vice President will be responsible as the President, ……… . He who serves in that office will hold the title of Officer of the Presidency of the Republic.”
Varela has announced publicly that he will NOT assume the presidency. Why in the world would he do that? Another part of the constitution states that if he serves as president for even a day, he is ineligible to run for president in the next election. So he is now catching a lot of heat, even from some of his own supporters, for putting his political ambitions over the constitution’s provisions.
Maybe Martinelli didn’t realize that if he was out of the country for more than ten days that ……… Yeah, right!
Bread Now Sold By Weight In Panama
Throughout the Republic of Panama, bread is now sold by the pound. The move angered some, and for others it was a novelty. Many people were concerned about the new measure, which far from being convenient, seems to attack the pockets of the lower class and underprivileged.
Officials of the Authority for Consumer Protection and Competition were auditing businesses, to make sure they were complying with the requirement to display prices. In Colon buyers were upset because now the prices are slightly higher.
Larry notes for readers outside of Panama: The Panamanians commonly stop by their local bakery on the way home from work to buy 'straight-out-of-the-oven' loaves of bread to take home. The bakery departments in the super markets do a brisk business as well. This measure is not aimed at the loaves of bread off-the-shelf that we are accustomed to in the U.S., for instance.
Don Winner (Panama-Guide) adds: This change was implemented because bakers can "inflate" the bread with more air. So, you might get more pieces of bread but less weight. This change to force bakers to sell bread by weight was designed, therefore, to protect consumers.
Oops! Prosecutors In Chiriqui Faced With Threats
Panama's Second Superior Prosecutor, Nedelka Diaz, said gang members and minors who are being investigated for homicides and other serious crimes are making death threats against the prosecutors of the Public Ministry who are investigating their cases. Diaz said this situation has caused the prosecutors to ask for increased security, especially in the Office of the Prosecutor for Adolescent Crimes, and the office of the prosecutors who are investigating gang related crime in Chiriqui. "We need more support to provide greater security to our prosecutors," said Diaz. She said other threats have been made in recent times and the criminals have called the prosecutors and their staff, posing as members of the national police to seek information about their cases.
David Happenings
- The Ecology Push in David. The ecology movement is active and vocal in Panama, and David is certainly no exception. All over town there are signs and billboards preaching ‘limpiar, verde, conservar y reciclar’ (clean, green, conserve and recycle). And that push is very evident in the town center park
About six months ago they changed out all the trash receptacles in Cervantes Parque and replaced them with sets of color coded and labeled sets of new containers. The sets of three containers, one container each for paper, plastic and organic, are deployed throughout the park (I can see five sets in the half of the park I can see from my perch across the street).
Like any new program there are some kinks that still have to be worked out. For starters, the guys who come around and empty the cans either can’t read or did not get the email on separating the trash. As you can see, the trash is dumped into one big container when it is collected. And I doubt that they sort it by hand some place later.
But the real kicker is that the new containers are significantly smaller than the old ones so they are very susceptible to the wind. During the rainy season the cans get blown around by wind gusts during a rain shower and trash is strewn all over downtown.
- Panamanian Hospitality. After four years I have a new room in the Hotel Occidental. The hotel has three big rooms that they call ‘the suites’ that are about three times the size of the normal rooms, and as I understand it, about three times the price. I have never paid that much attention because I was perfectly happy right where I was.
As part of a room-by-room remodeling project, they recently overhauled the suite that is on the opposite end of the balcony from me. One of the assistant managers wanted to show it off, and insisted I had to walk over and
look it over. Wow, impressive! Repainted, new tile and drapes, big leather couch and matching chair, dining room set, king-sized bed and new TV. Hmm! Out of curiosity I ask what the cost was and I didn’t understand his answer, so I took it to mean the price was still ‘to be determined’.
The next day that same manager comes by and starts telling me about a discussion with the jefe (the general manager) and I can’t figure out what he is telling me. It turns out, he assumed from my ‘price question’ that I wanted to move in, so he had negotiated a price with the boss man. It finally sunk in, If I moved into this suite my rent was going to increase to the ‘astronomical’ figure of about $16 a day. I avoided saying ‘you’re kidding’.
So we had a deal, but I was getting ready to go back to the U.S. for about a month for my Spring visit. So I suggested to the jefe that I would wait until I came back before I moved. I did not see any sense in taking one of the more expensive rooms out of his inventory to just sit vacant. He appeared to appreciate the gesture, so 1 June after I returned from the U.S. became my move-in date.
Well, come ‘move-in day’ before I even finished my cup of coffee, and with no previous discussion, one of the porters and the assistant manger show up to move me. They just swapped dresser drawers between the rooms, carried the stuff on hangers, etc. And with that type of help, instead of breaking down my computer setup and moving a component at a time, I was able to just unplug in, and the three of us carried it desk-and-all to the new digs and plugged it in. The whole move, that I had been dreading, was completed in a little over an hour.
About an hour later, the jefe came by to welcome me to my new room. (By the way, this is the view I have as I sit at the desk and work on my computer. Yes, it is easy to become distracted..) He also explained to me that since I had been since a good customer for four years, he couldn’t raise my rate – he just wouldn’t feel right. So my suite overlooking the park, all expenses included with daily maid service still averages out to $13 a day. What a place. Home Sweet Home!
- Rain, Rain Go Away: One of the nice things about the climate in and around David is that the rainy season is not the ‘tropical rain forest’ version that is common in much of this part of the world. For example, in Golfito the rainy season I experienced there had me considering calling in Noah to help me build an ark. But in David the typical rainy season day features sun most of the day, then it clouds up in late afternoon, and (with plenty of advanced warning) it usually rains for and hour or two. And that is it for the day.
Well this last week we had a strange weather front. I woke about midnight on Thursday and it was raining. It rained all night and continued all through Friday. Then it continued all night Friday, and wait a minute, it rained all through Saturday morning. Luckily it was a light rain so the streets (and the storefronts at street level) did not flood as they do during a downpour.
Ironically, within an hour of the rain stopping (about 1PM) the parade of the Merchant Marine cadets started up. Given the fact that there are some logistics involved in a parade of this sort, it really makes you wonder what they knew that I didn’t about the weather.
And by the way, after four years here I still find it amusing that, in a country that prides itself in not having a military, it seems everyone has and wears a uniform of some kind.
My Book – ‘Angels in Panama’
Judy Brown from Texas sent me a nice review of my book. She also included this picture with is most appreciated and very clever. Thanks again Judy.
Bad News – Due to some kind of disconnect between the publisher and retailers, the ebook version of my book on both Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes and Noble (Nook) are priced off the chart. I am trying to get that resolved, but until it is I have removed those links from my postings.
The link below is for the paperback version of my book from Publish America (the publisher) I have also included a link to my website where you can read excerpts of ‘Angels in Panama’ if you want.
Paperback from the Publisher $9.95
Till Next Time. Pura Vida
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