Friday
Friday 8th April 2022.
April 8, 2022
The epidemiological report from the Ministry of Health (Minsa) this Thursday, detailed that two deaths were reported in the last 24 hours due to Covid-19. With the two new deaths in the country, there is a cumulative to date of 8,174 deaths and a lethality of 1.1%. In the last 24 hours there was registered 247 new positive cases. 5,785 tests were applied to detect those infected with the virus, for a positivity of 4.3%. On the other hand, active cases total 2,110 while. In isolation there are 2,032 people, divided into 2,021 at home and 11 in the so-called hospital hotels. Meanwhile, there are 78 hospitalized, of which 70 are in a wards and 8 in intensive care units (ICU).
Alejandro Pérez, from the team of lawyers of former President Ricardo Martinelli, filed a criminal complaint on the afternoon of this Thursday, April 7, against the presiding magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, María Eugenia López Arias , for the alleged commission of crimes against the administration of justice and against public servants. Pérez bases his complaint on alleged pressure from López Arias to alter the calendar of the hearings and set the date of the trial followed by Martinelli, for the wiretapping case. He also accuses her of “accelerating” procedural phases and of ignoring stages of legal and regulatory procedures with the intention of continuing with what he called a “persecution” against Martinelli.
The Public Ministry (MP) and the National Police arrested this Thursday, April 7, 23 people for their alleged involvement in crimes related to drugs and fraud. The proceedings called “Harry” and “Ryoshi” were carried out in Oeste Panama, Panama, Colón and in the district of San Miguelito. In a statement, the MP explained that during the “Harry” operation, which was directed by the First Specialized Prosecutor for Drug-Related Crimes and the Anti-Drug Directorate of the National Police, 11 people were apprehended, including alias “JC.” , alleged leader of a criminal organization and more than 42 thousand dollars in cash were seized. Meanwhile, in the operation called “Ryoshi” 12 people allegedly linked to the crime against economic assets in the form of aggravated fraud were apprehended. “The modality of this type of crime consists of the use of methods and techniques by criminals who take advantage of technological means to obtain confidential information, such as: passwords and bank information data of the victims, by means of deception and thus appropriate of their money”, explained the Public Ministry.
If the revocation of the mandate of the mayor of the capital, José Luis Fábrega , is successful, the deputy mayor Judy Meana would replace him in office. This was clarified by the Legal Counsel Directorate of the Electoral Tribunal (TE) in a request for information submitted by citizen Camila Adames.
The plenary session of the National Assembly approved with 39 votes in favor on the morning of this Thursday, April 7, in the third debate, Bill No. 777, which creates the Vacamonte corregimiento, segregated from the Vista Alegre corregimiento, in the district of Arraiján . Independent deputies Gabriel Silva, Raúl Hernández and Edison Broce voted against this new norm. Broce questioned that the National Assembly is dedicated to the creation of more corregimientos instead of solving problems, such as the high cost of living and the minimum payment received by retirees.
With the participation of the Public Ministry, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Administrative Tax Court, the Superintendence of the Securities Market, the College of Accountants, the General Directorate of Revenue and the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information, at the second day of the on-site visit of the Anti-Corruption Mechanism of the Organization of American States (OAS). The central theme of yesterday is focused on recommendations of the mechanism regarding aspects such as bank secrecy, illicit enrichment, bribery, transnational bribery and denial or impediment of tax benefits, when they are derived from acts of corruption.
The World Bank projects that Panama will grow 6.5% this year, which represents one of the highest growth rates for the region. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Panama would be the fifth economy with the highest growth rate this year, behind Guyana (47.9%), Barbados (11.2%), Saint Lucia (7.9%) and Dominica (6.8%). For 2023 and 2024, the international organization projects growth for Panama of 5% in both years. The growing trend of the economy will continue in the coming years, after the strong contraction of 17.9% in 2020, as a result of the restrictions imposed by the Government to contain the pandemic. This drop was partially offset in 2021, with a growth of 15.3% caused by the lifting of restrictions and increased economic activity.
The Government promulgated this Wednesday, April 6, in the Official Gazette , executive decree No. 9 that orders the closure of national and municipal public offices from 12:00 noon on April 14, 2022, to commemorate Holy Week.