Monday
Monday 26th August 2024.
August 25, 2024
Since the scandal broke out as a result of Operation Jericho, Raúl Pineda , a deputy for the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) , has disappeared from the public sphere. His seat in the various legislative committees in which he participates has been left empty. He did not attend the Budget Committee or the Credentials Committee, despite the fact that these two bodies have managed important tasks in recent days.
His seat in the legislative chamber is occupied by his substitute, Joana Cedeño.
He also did not accompany his son, Abraham Rico Pineda Tejada , 31, to the multiple hearing where he was charged with the alleged commission of the crime of money laundering and was provisionally detained while the case is investigated.
That day (Wednesday, August 21) his wife, Isis De León, was present and sat in the third row on the left side of the room. Next to her was Maybel Araúz, Abraham Rico Pineda’s partner.
However, the deputy has published two statements on the subject: in the first, he announced that his son would turn himself in; in the second, he made it public when he arrived at the offices of the First Judicial District of the Accusatory Penal System in Plaza Ágora. Also, last Friday, August 23, he published a post with a reference to the biblical character Job: “No matter how difficult things are, continue to trust,” he says.
Despite his son’s alleged connection to organized crime, Pineda has the support of his other family: the PRD leadership, to which he belongs. He is the third undersecretary of the political group.
In a statement released last Wednesday, the PRD called for “full respect for the procedural guarantees of all persons involved in any investigation, regardless of their political affiliation or status.”
Abraham Rico Pineda is accused of laundering money for a criminal organization that brought drugs from Colombia through the trails of the Darien jungle, to then transport them to the border with Costa Rica.
The deputy would have played an important role in the plot. According to the telephone conversations intercepted by Rico Pineda, his father was at his side when the delivery of almost $90,000 to a Colombian named Pablo was coordinated.
“Monster, I am here with my dad (…) we delivered the 90 (…)”. He also said that this money would arrive in Colombia through Token, a tool that digitalizes an asset through a code, whether it is current money, cryptocurrencies or other values to transfer or sell them. According to the prosecutor, criminal networks use this mechanism to send money.
Rico Pineda handed the money to Jonathan Parra in a white bag, but the man was intercepted by the National Police in front of Raenco, on the Transístmica highway. The money was subjected to an ion scan test and tested positive for illicit substances. Parra reached a plea agreement with the authorities and confessed that the money is the product of money laundering.
But Victor Orobio, Angel Alvarez and Javier Franco, his lawyers, argue that the money was for the payment of a construction and some plans.
The administration of José Raúl Mulino continues to make changes to the structure of the Ministry of the Presidency.
First was the elimination of the Secretariat for Monitoring Execution and Compliance that he inherited from the administration of Laurentino Cortizo .
Instead, Mulino reestablished the Secretariat of Presidential Goals , which is headed by José Ramón Icaza, current Minister of Panama Canal Affairs.
The most recent change was in the Strategic Secretariat for Development and Competitiveness of the Presidency of the Republic, created in 2019.
Mulino decided to change it and name it the Secretariat of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness of the Ministry of the Presidency. This was established in Executive Decree No. 486 of August 16, 2024 .
This secretariat is responsible for coordinating, monitoring and evaluating the economic goals that the State must implement. It will have an executive secretary who can be freely appointed and removed. He or she must report directly to the president.
The Ministry of the Presidency must include in its budget the necessary items for the operation of this secretariat.
On August 22, the National Assembly selected Anel Bolo Flores as the next Comptroller General of the Republic. In light of this selection, the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) made an “emphatic” call for the new Comptroller General to “recover this essential function as an independent and effective overseer of public funds.”
The business organization stressed that the recent scandals related to the granting of financial aid at the Institute for the Training and Utilization of Human Resources, the National Assembly’s funds, and parallel decentralization are clear examples of how the lack of adequate oversight can lead to serious damage for the country.
He also said that the officials responsible for these acts must face the consequences and that the Comptroller’s Office has an essential role in ensuring that similar incidents are not repeated.
The Cciap pointed out that it is necessary to distance the General Comptroller’s Office – whose mission is to supervise, regulate and control the movement of public funds and assets – from “political criteria” that, far from guaranteeing transparent and efficient management, have contributed to the loss of confidence in State institutions.
This misuse of oversight has created unnecessary obstacles to state contracts, or has given free rein to those contracts that were in the interest of those in power, the business organization indicated on Sunday, August 25.
The message from La Cámara Opina ends with the following: “Mr. Comptroller General: Panama cannot continue to witness scandals that undermine public confidence. Panamanians will no longer tolerate impunity or corruption in the management of funds that belong to all of us. It is time for the Comptroller General of the Republic to recover its true meaning and become a firm and reliable pillar in the fight for transparency and efficiency in public administration. Only in this way can we advance towards a more just, prosperous and equitable country for all.”
In the legislative session last Thursday, Anel Flores, a 65-year-old economist born in Puerto Armuelles, Chiriquí, obtained the votes of the deputies of the ruling party Realizing Goals, as well as that of its allies from the Democratic Revolutionary Party, Democratic Change and the Panameñista Party. He will replace Gerardo Solís, whose term expires in December of this year.
International tourists from Europe totalled 132,084 between January and May this year, which meant an increase of 4.2% compared to the same month last year.
The report from the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP ) details that Spaniards, followed by Germans, Italians and Dutch, are the nationalities of the most frequent travelers to Panama in the first five months of this year. From Spain alone, 29,631 visitors entered Panama between January and May; from France 19,649 visitors, then Italy with 14,569; Germany with 14,850; Holland with 11,723 visitors and the United Kingdom with 9,925 visitors.
Throughout 2023, the ATP recorded 276,229 international visitors from Europe, a growth of 15.3% compared to 2022, when 239,671 citizens from the old continent entered the country.
As in the first five months of 2024, throughout 2023, Spain was the main point of origin of tourists who visited Panama with 67,965 people, followed by France with 32,421 visitors; then Italy with 32,461; Germany with 31,737; Holland with 24,530 visitors and the United Kingdom with 18,754 visitors.
Much of Panama’s promotional resources are allocated to these markets through agreements made by the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (Prontur) .
Panama has direct air connections with Spain, France, Holland and Türkiye.
Air Europa’s sales director, Bernardo Botella, highlighted the growth of the route between Madrid and Panama City in the last five years since operations began.
“Since Air Europa began its flights to Panama in 2019, the company has transported more than 450,000 passengers. Currently, it has six weekly frequencies between the Tocumen International Airport and the strategic hub of Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain. For this year, expectations and the evolution of the activity allow us to anticipate that 2024 will be the year with the highest number of customers transported to date,” said Botella, who was in Panama this week.
Travelling to Europe? Find out about the changes to hand luggage that you should take into account, according to the European Commission.
From 1 September 2024 , passengers, airlines and airports will have to strictly comply with the guidelines for accepting hand luggage on flights and the content of liquids that can be carried.
These instructions relate primarily to the size of the luggage.
The European Commission has decided to lay down the accepted measurements for hand luggage, due to the controversy that often arises with passengers who carry larger sizes, or airlines that impose their own rules.
To avoid the uncertainty that often leads to long queues at passenger check-in counters, and has even resulted in arguments that lead to lawsuits and sanctions for passengers who lose patience, the European authority stipulates that it will recognise these measurements for hand luggage: 55 cm x 40 cm x 22 cm and a maximum of 10 kilograms .
But that’s not all… it has also been stipulated that on 1 September certain restrictions will also come into force regarding the control of liquids that passengers can carry in their hand luggage when entering airports in the European Union.
According to the European Union Aviation Security Regulation, passengers can only carry liquids with a quantity of up to 100 millilitres . But some airports that had EDSCB equipment or also called C3 Scanners , which incorporate an explosive detection system in hand luggage and would allow a larger quantity, will have to remove this equipment.
The flexibility to carry more than 100 millilitres of liquids will end, as these devices must be removed from European airports, including those in Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway, from 1 September.
Although the European Union has clarified that this measure will be applied temporarily, the Airports Council (ACI) has described the measure to restrict this type of scanners for hand luggage as severe.
The equipment that will be removed allowed for better inspection and made it easier for passengers to carry a larger quantity of liquids without size restrictions.
“ The modifications specifically target C3 scanners, the cutting-edge technology, which maintains best-in-class detection standards, which until now allowed passengers to carry liquids without any restrictions and store them, along with their large electronic devices, inside their hand luggage at security checkpoints,” explained the ACI.
But the new restriction introduces, from 1 September 2024, a 100 ml limit for individual containers of liquids, which eliminates the main benefit that C3 scanners bring to passengers.
The European chapter of the world’s airport association warned that removing these scanners “will cause significant operational strain , the mitigation of which will require the deployment of additional staff and the reconfiguration of security controls, where possible.”
In other words, passengers should prepare for longer waiting times at security areas in European airports, while being very strict with the size of their hand luggage to avoid complications on their journeys.
In addition, although the measure does not apply in airports on the American continent, flights originating from Europe will have to apply these measures, so on your next trip to Spain, Holland and France that have a direct connection with Panama, consider these rules for your carry-on luggage.
At Tocumen International Airport, the rule of not allowing more than 100 milliliters of liquids applies, and there are other restrictions that you can consult at this link: Information for travelers.
It is also recommended to check with the airlines that offer flights from Panama to Europe , including Air Europa, Iberia, KLM, Airfrance and Turkish Airlines.