Friday
Friday 23rd August 2024.
August 22, 2024
Abraham Rico Pineda Tejada knew they were after him. Someone told him that the police were following him. That’s why he made sure he wasn’t at his house, located on Arboleda de Albrook Street, in the capital, on August 15, when the authorities raided the residence as part of the anti-drug operation Jericó.
From the place where he was hiding, the day before (August 14), he called “Felita,” the person who helps him with household chores, and gave her instructions. He asked her that, when the police arrived and asked for him, she should say that they were at the beach. Felita asked him “if there was nothing else to put in the bags.” Presumably he was packing objects or perhaps documents so as not to leave evidence, because when the police arrived, they found the safes open and empty. “I just had the scare of my life. Those people came,” the woman told the son of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) deputy, Raúl Pineda , after the search by the authorities. Rico gave her another task: to take a photo of the search warrant.
Felita was not the only one who received instructions. On Thursday, August 15, Rico Pineda also called a woman named Carol, who, according to the Superior Drug Prosecutor’s Office, was responsible for human resources at his company Servicios Múltiples Rama S.A. He told her not to hand over the iPhone or the computer.
That Thursday morning, Operation Jericho was overshadowed. Early in the morning, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Police reported on the raids, the people arrested, the money seized, but the public attention was focused on another matter. It focused on the weekly conference of President José Raúl Mulino , who from the Las Garzas palace gave the country plenty of news: he called the parallel decentralization a “real disaster,” reported that the first flight to repatriate migrants was already underway, and compared Etelvina de Bonagas, the rector of Unachi, with Nicolás Maduro, among other things.
The country learned of the raid on the residence and business of the son of Congressman Raúl Pineda after midday on Thursday following a report in La Prensa. The report reported that he was not found. So the search began. He is under the authorities’ scrutiny because he is accused of allegedly laundering money for a criminal organization that brought drugs from Colombia through the trails of the Darién jungle, substances that are then transported to the border with Costa Rica.
The President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino , referred this Thursday, August 22, to Operation Jericho , in which some 30 people have been arrested, including Abraham Rico Pineda , son of the deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, Raúl Pineda , stating that “time has proven me right.”
In his weekly interview with the media, Mulino asked the corresponding authorities to act firmly on this issue. His reaction came after being asked about the operation and the fact that in July 2013, when he was Minister of Security, he called Congressman Pineda a cynic with immunity who asked for favors for a gang member.
“So, here there is no coverage for anyone, no protection for anyone. And whoever fell, fell. I regret it. That is why they must have thought about it when they got into this dirty business, not now. It is not time for regrets, but to put one’s chest out and face reality,” he said.
The president stressed that the country is being cleaned up, which represents an enormous effort and that the statistics show this with the drug seizures that are being carried out.
Operation Jericho began on June 30, 2023, when the Public Prosecutor’s Office discovered the existence of a criminal group engaged in international drug trafficking.
Yesterday, Abraham Rico Pineda’s defense argued that he was a victim of political hatred, to which the president responded that he has no political hatred towards anyone in the country.
“I am not using the Presidency or my power to persecute anyone, much less on such a delicate issue. Look for an excuse elsewhere , in the law, but don’t come here and blame me, because that boy is in prison for what he was doing; he and the other accomplices who were caught, not because of me,” said the president.
Mulino said that he found out about the operation on the same day and that the attorney general (Javier Caraballo) explained that this operation began in 2023, when he was not even President of the Republic.
In his weekly press conference, President José Raúl Mulino made it clear that he will not allow any other State body to co-administer the national budget.
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“It is the constitutional power of the Executive to administer the nation’s budget in accordance with the Budget Law ,” he said.
The president acknowledged that the amounts allocated can be subject to negotiation and revealed that he has already begun talks with the president of the National Assembly , Danna Castañeda, of the Realizing Goals (RM) party, to reach an agreement.
“I am trying to restore the institutionality of the Executive Branch in matters of the nation’s budget, which is our responsibility,” he said.
Mulino defended the use of travel expenses in public administration, rejecting criticism that he described as “demagogic.” He argued that travel expenses are necessary for public officials to be able to carry out missions abroad and that they cannot be eliminated under the pretext of austerity.
“It is in the Constitution . (…) It cannot be that now I have to go to the Assembly or a minister or an official to get permission for a trip.”
Regarding relations with deputies, Mulino assured that he will not allow blackmail. “I work harmoniously with the Legislative Body. But they will not blackmail me or coerce me as they were used to in the previous government,” he said.
He also said that when a “political agreement” is made, it must be fulfilled.
In response to this, the deputy of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) , Benicio Robinson , assured that at no time has he taken any minister or director to “a small room to blackmail him.” “And if he wants to file a complaint, he should not be interfering or denouncing the Assembly, in which the only thing he does is harm the people’s body,” he assured.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) , through Executive Decree No. 28 of August 20, 2024 , extended for six months Decree No. 3 of February 14, 2023, which sets a maximum reference price for medicines and adopts other measures. This decree establishes a price 30% lower than that registered in each pharmacy as of June 30, 2022.
The Pharmacy Owners Unit (Unprofa) rejects this extension, arguing that, instead of solving the shortage of medicines, it could aggravate the supply crisis without solving the high cost of medicines.
Although the 30% discount on medicines was adopted in 2022, patients continue to face high prices and shortages of medicines in health facilities.
Last week, the tender carried out by the Social Security Fund (CSS) for the purchase of drugs was suspended by the entity.
The President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, requested in his account X to the director of the CSS, Enrique Lau Cortés, to suspend the tender for the acquisition of medicines for a total of $146,630,367.67, which was scheduled for Wednesday, August 14.
This tender, authorized by Executive Decree No. 33 of May 15, 2024, began during the administration of former President Laurentino Cortizo (2019-2024).
According to the decree, on January 31 of this year, the CSS requested the Ministry of Health (Minsa) to make a state purchase of 226 medicines to prevent shortages.
Mulino said in a tweet that if supplies could not be supplied in five years, this would not be achieved by repeating the same processes, while patients wait for an effective solution to the shortage and high cost of medicines.
Panama must regulate the cryptocurrency market and other virtual assets to avoid being included in other lists and to adapt the financial system to international standards in this area.
Isabel Vecchio , technical secretary of the National Commission against Money Laundering, highlighted at the XXVIII Hemispheric Congress for the Prevention of Financial Crimes that, in view of the fifth round of mutual evaluations of the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (Gafilat), scheduled for 2027, one of the pending tasks is to regulate virtual assets.
These assets include cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and others, as well as digital platforms and the fintech ecosystem.
“Recommendation 15, which refers to virtual assets, represents a challenge because it is necessary to regulate and control these assets, in addition to knowing the risks they entail,” he said.
He pointed out that it is vital to look for ways to mitigate the risks present in cryptocurrency operations. “Laws are a conduit, but one of the things that will be seen in the fifth round is their effectiveness. In order for them to be adequate, controls must be implemented, so laws, rights and resolutions must be constantly reviewed and adapted to the reality of the market.”
Vecchio said that it is necessary to determine which will be the regulatory body for virtual assets in the area of money laundering prevention. “When we have to go through the fifth round of evaluation, we must be prepared to face it well and obtain a positive result for the country,” he said.
This week, the Government began issuing Treasury Notes through the local stock market, as part of its medium- and long-term financing strategy.
The transaction was for $188.6 million, traded through the Latin American Stock Exchange (Latinex) , according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
This was the first auction of the Treasury Notes Rotating Program, authorized by Cabinet Decree 34 of August 6, 2024.
The issue was announced for an indicative amount of $200 million, with a coupon of 6.625% and maturity in August 2029, and was offered to investors in the local market through the Market Makers program on Latinex.
The reaction to the operation was that local investment agents offered a total of $239.66 million and finally $188.69 million were awarded with a weighted average price of 99.62, obtaining an average weighted yield of 6.72%.
The MEF explained that the objective of these issues in the local market with Treasury Notes is to obtain internal financing, to reduce Panama’s dependence on international markets.
The government authorized the MEF to issue up to $6 billion in market operations to obtain financing for a period of two to 10 years when required in several tranches.