Monday
Monday 13th February 2023.
February 13, 2023
The group of Panamanian rescuers that traveled to Turkey is already in the disaster zone in search of survivors after the earthquakes registered on Monday, February 6.
They work against the clock and in the middle of the rubble. This group of Panamanians arrived in Istanbul on Saturday and immediately moved to the southeast of the country, the epicenter of the earthquake, specifically to CahRamanMaras, one of the provinces most destroyed by earthquakes.
The delegation of rescuers of the Joint Task Force is made up of 20 specialists. They will work for 10 days in Cahramanmaras, in a coordinated operation with rescuers from different countries, the Government reported.
Two inmates from the La Joya prison have been pointed out for their alleged links to a shooting that occurred between rival gangs. In this incident, a policeman and an inmate were killed; two agents of the National Police (PN) and a prisoner were also injured.
“As a result of the operation that ended late at night [on Friday] in the La Joya prison, the National Police together with the Public Ministry apprehended [alias] “Popotón” and [alias] “Joelito”, both deprived of liberty,” the PN said this Saturday on its Twitter account.
The MP already informed that the Homicide and Femicide Section of the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office took aliases “Popotón” and “Joelito” before a guarantee judge.
The General Directorate of the Penitentiary System reported that the shooting took place in Sector A of La Nueva Joya.
For security reasons, family visits to said prison complex located in eastern Panama are suspended.
After a search at the La Joya prison, the authorities seized 20 firearms, cell phones, sharp objects, among other prohibited items.
“The searches are going to continue,” said the Minister of Public Security, Juan Pino, during a tour of this prison, this Sunday, February 12, together with the director of the Police, John Omar Dornheim, and the Minister of Government, Roger Tejada.
For his part, Tejada indicated that the Cabinet Council approved a budget of 25 million dollars to install a security system “with modern technology.”
“We will have new lights, watchtowers and we are making adjustments to the perimeter fences,” he said.
The National Migration Service of Panama registered the passage of 10,031 irregular migrants through the Darién border, in 11 days in February, most of them are Haitians.
According to the latest figures compiled by the immigration authorities, of the 10,031 irregular travelers who crossed the border through Colombia, 3,248 were Haitians, 2,638 Ecuadorians, and 1,883 Venezuelans. There are also Colombian, Dominican, Cuban and migrants from other world regions.
The Panamanian immigration authorities project that in 2023 the passage of irregular migrants will be significant, taking into account that in January the figure reached 24,634. That is, that in two months 34,665 irregular travelers have crossed the Darién gap.
Panama registers a daily average of at least a thousand migrants arriving at reception points in the province of Darién.
Intellectuals, militants and former members of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) met this Sunday at the Parlatino headquarters to participate in the national meeting “Balance and Challenges of Torrijismo in the XXI Century.
The objective of the meeting, according to its organizers, is to analyze the current situation in the country based on the ideals of Omar Torrijos Herrera and to be able to draw conclusions.
The event was attended by current leaders of the PRD such as the former general secretary of the party, Pedro Miguel González, who has stated that he is an opponent of the branch of the National Executive Committee (CEN) of the group, led by deputy Benicio Robinson and supports the presidential aspirations of José Gabriel Carrizo.
The act was also attended by the president of the National Assembly, Crispiano Adames, who stressed that this group has no owner.
“Any member of the party knows and recognizes that they has no owner and if they want to believe it, the local leadership shows him the ability to aspire,” said Adames.
Mauricio Baquero Pardo, Colombian ambassador in Panama, was denounced for alleged sexual harassment, by a former co-worker who currently works as the first secretary of a diplomatic career in the Colombian Foreign Ministry and was a subordinate of the current ambassador in Panama, during its representation in Singapore (2014-2018).
The career diplomat was appointed by President Gustavo Petro, on October 21, 2022, amid requests for rejection; and he obtained the approval of Panama to present his credentials before President Laurentino Cortizo, Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Janaina Tewaney. This was a month after his appointment, on November 23, 2022, where he expressed his “willingness to continue strengthening the close ties of friendship, cooperation, and solidarity that have always united the two nations.”
The H5N1 avian influenza is threatening the country’s poultry industry and also poses a risk to people’s health.
After having detected some cases of avian flu, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (Minsa) reported that it found a focus of avian influenza in backyard birds in communities with difficult access, located in the north of the province of Veraguas.
The focus or outbreak was detected in the communities of Concepción, Río Veraguas and Santa María de Belén, where they reported that they have proceeded, as an immediate measure, to slaughter approximately 1,500 backyard birds.
The mayor of Santa Fe, Jorge Cárdenas, was contacted and reported that a sanitary fence had been established to protect some five poultry farms where there are approximately one million birds.
“It is not to be alarmed, but we are preventing this from getting out of control to avoid a crisis in the poultry industry,” he said. In fact, Mida reported Saturday that an inter-institutional team traveled to Veraguas to implement specific actions to prevent the avian influenza focus, detected in backyard birds in communities with difficult access to the north of this province, from spreading to other regions.