Monday
Monday 2nd September 2024.
September 1, 2024
Maron Foundation , one of the organizations under scrutiny by the Drug Prosecutor’s Office investigating alleged drug trafficking and money laundering by a group dismantled in Operation Jericho , imported three Tesla brand electric vehicles from the United States between April and September 2023.
According to official records, the first car was imported on April 12 of last year and was a used gray four-door sedan, 2023 model, valued at $26,368.
The second has an import date of August 16, 2023: another used sedan, 2023 model, white, valued at $44,898.
While the third was imported on September 7 of last year, with the following characteristics: a 2022 Tesla, white, valued at $20,317.
The founder, president, secretary and treasurer of the Maron Foundation is Omar Alexander Ortega Robles, one of those investigated for the alleged commission of drug trafficking and money laundering in the organization dismantled in Operation Jericho. According to data from the Public Registry of Panama, it was created on August 3, 2021.
On May 25 of last year, the same foundation also brought a used gray, eight-cylinder hybrid pickup truck to the country. The make is not specified.
Ortega Robles is provisionally detained after turning himself in to authorities on August 19. His name, along with that of Abraham Rico Pineda , son of PRD deputy Raúl Pineda , appeared for several days on a list of those wanted by the National Police to be held accountable for the events investigated in Jericó.
Ortega Robles is also the president of Servicios Múltiples Rama and Visionary Concepts , companies that are also under the radar of the authorities.
These companies received multiple contracts from different state entities during the 2019-2024 administration, when Laurentino Cortizo , of the Democratic Revolutionary Party, governed the country.
On August 21, the day Ortega Robles was charged with the alleged commission of drug trafficking and money laundering, prosecutor Joseph Díaz reported that after the prosecution requested data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on companies linked to those investigated in the framework of Operation Jericho, there was a leak of information. It turns out that several lawyers presented themselves to the prosecution with a copy of the request made by the prosecutor.
Around that time, Ortega, according to the prosecutor, transferred a Tesla valued at $70,000 to the Maron Foundation.
Nearly 4,800 housing units under construction are still pending recognition and the benefit of the Housing Solidarity Fund, which expired on June 30 of this year and will not be renewed.
This was stated by the president of the Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac) , Alejandro Ferrer Solís, when explaining that the decree stipulates a transitional period for projects that had already been authorized by the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (Miviot) and that are still under construction, so that they can be recognized as part of the fund, and the people who acquire them can receive said benefit.
“Although there is still no definitive official figure, it is estimated that around 4,700 to 4,800 homes would fall within this transitional period to be recognized as part of the Solidarity Fund,” Ferrer said.
He recalled that the benefit of the Housing Solidarity Fund was granted to people who acquired a house or apartment with a value of up to $70,000, and the State provided them with a subsidy of $10,000 corresponding to the down payment on that housing unit.
The previous administration left a debt of $140 million, of which $100 million had been budgeted for payment, according to the president of Capac. “Of those $100 million, not all have been disbursed, because the procedures have been very slow, in addition to the government transition. Approximately $40 million remain pending, plus the housing units that are part of the transitional period.”
The president of Capac believes that, given the elimination of the Housing Solidarity Fund, each developer will look for options to reduce the price of housing, and banks will have to make financing more flexible.
“The bank and developers will have to look for alternatives to offer options to the population. The market will adjust to demand,” he said.
Panama is ranked 53rd in the world ranking of destinations for meeting tourism according to the study by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) , even above Costa Rica which is ranked 56th and the Dominican Republic, ranked 64th in the classification.
Excluding the United States and North America from the ranking, Panama as a country is ranked number 8 in Latin America and the Caribbean as a meeting destination. It is also ranked eighth in the regional ranking of cities.
A position that is considered by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap), as an opportunity to transform the country into an epicenter of this tourism segment.
In the weekly press release of La Cámara Opina, the president of the association, Juan Alberto Arias Strunz, said that one of the objectives is to promote the growth of tourism, especially in the “MICE” segment (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), which generates significant income in various sectors of the economy, beyond the tourism industry.
He reported that they signed an agreement with Corferias of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, an entity with 70 years of experience in the organization of fairs and events at an international level, with more than 50 annual fairs in its portfolio.
“This agreement seeks to create platforms for exchanging knowledge, experiences and establishing business contacts,” he said.
He highlighted that between January and March of this year, international event tourism in Panama generated more than 2,000 jobs.
“After the pandemic, Panama has moved up three positions in the ranking of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), now occupying fifth place among the most attractive countries for holding events, contributing 15% of the GDP.”
The Mayor’s Office of Panama, in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States and various organizations, carried out a clean-up day on Sunday, September 1, on the beach of Costa del Este, in the town of Juan Díaz.
During this activity, approximately 30 tons of waste were collected thanks to the participation of nearly 700 volunteers.
This clean-up day marked the beginning of activities for Oceans Month, celebrated in September, with the aim of raising awareness about the importance of protecting and conserving marine biodiversity, as well as the ecosystems that surround it. Participants included representatives from the National Institute for Vocational Training and Capacity Building for Human Development, the Adventist Church, Promar, the National Civil Protection System, the Ecological Police, the University of Panama and the Technological University of Panama, among others.
Air connections between Venezuela , Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru will remain restricted for another month, after the Ministry of Transportation of that country and the National Institute of Civil Aviation issued a new Notam ( Notice To Airmen ) or official aeronautical statement stating that the suspension of commercial air operations continues until September 30.
On July 29, the Nicolás Maduro regime announced the temporary suspension of commercial flights with these three countries, which began to take effect on July 31 , as a measure to reject the interference of these countries in the electoral results.
Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru have indicated that they do not recognize Maduro as president of Venezuela and have pointed out that the winner of the elections on July 28 in that country was Edmundo González Urrutia , as demonstrated by the minutes presented by the opposition in that country.
The suspension of flights with these three countries has left Venezuela without nearly 100 weekly frequencies, which has affected the flow of at least 15,000 weekly passengers who used these air connections to go to different destinations on the continent.
In the case of Copa Airlines, it operated around 50 weekly frequencies to five destinations in Venezuela : Caracas, Valencia, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo and Barcelona. Only between Panama and Caracas there were 24 weekly flights that operated, each one with approximately 144 passengers in the main cabin and 16 in business class.
Venezuelans have opted to fly via direct connections from Caracas to Bogotá, Medellín, Mexico City, Cancún, Santiago de Chile, Curacao and Aruba to be able to connect with the United States and other destinations.
From Venezuela, flights to Spain, Portugal and Turkey are operated by private commercial airlines and other international destinations are operated by the state-owned Conviasa, some of which are charter flights and not regular ones.
The Panama Canal will begin allowing the passage of 36 ships a day this Sunday, September 1, the ideal number of transits per day that will return the transoceanic route to relative “normality” in a year in which it has been increasing crossings after cutting them back due to the severe drought.
“As far as traffic is concerned, again starting this September 1 (…) we will have 36 transits per day, as was established before the crisis in July 2023, (when) we had approximately 36 to 38 transits per day. That is the normal average,” Panama Canal Hydrology Manager Ayax Murillo told EFE.
On July 30, 2023, the Panama Canal reduced ship transits to 32 due to the El Niño phenomenon, which lengthened the dry season when rainfall abruptly decreased. The waterway applied new restrictions over the following months until reaching 22 ships per day last November.
Initially, it was said that the traffic restrictions would cause an impact of 800 million dollars in toll revenues in the coffers of the roads, a drop that would be partially offset by revenue from other services.
However, despite this serious situation caused by the climate crisis, the worst-case scenario, which was 18 in February, was never reached, since with the improvement in the levels of the lakes that serve the waterway, the Canal was gradually restoring daily crossings.
The improvement in this situation is due to the arrival of a rainy season with abundant rainfall, which has raised the levels of the Gatún and Alajuela lakes, the two that supply the road.
As of last Friday, Gatún registered 85.7 feet and Alajuela 217.4 feet, respectively, both within a stable range according to the canal’s website.
Gatun Lake, the largest, has an operating level of 87.5 feet, while Alajuela Lake is at 252 feet. Both reservoirs reached very low levels: 80 feet in the middle of last year and 205 feet last May, each.
Under normal conditions, such as those currently in place, the number of ships passing through the Panama Canal per day is between 35 and 36. If this scenario continues, the number of ships passing through the Canal per day could continue to be 36 during the next dry season (from mid-December to April), according to the canal’s hydrology manager.