News
Wednesday 26th June 2024.
June 25, 2024
In a movement that has captured the attention of the national political scene, the deputies of the Realizing Goals (RM) party , Alaín Cedeño , Dana Castañeda and Ronald De Gracia, have expressed their interest in leading the board of directors of the National Assembly .
This aspiration marks a crucial moment for the party, which seeks to consolidate its influence and leadership in the legislature at a time when there is nothing clear about who the next president of the Legislature could be. The names have been confirmed by former president Ricardo Martinelli himself in his X account in the last two days.
On Tuesday, Martinelli announced that Castañeda is also interested in being a candidate. “We will wait until today at 5 pm to see if there are other interested parties,” the former president stressed.
In fact, Castañeda, current undersecretary of the National Assembly, visited the former president of the Republic this morning at the Nicaraguan embassy, where he has been asylum since last February 7 to evade his sentence for the New Business case. The elected representative arrived around 9:40 am and left the diplomatic headquarters at 10:55 am
Castañeda’s seat was in the eye of the storm after an electoral court decided to disqualify her because she did not resign her position in the Legislature during the time provided by the electoral law to campaign; However, the full Electoral Court rejected that decision and her proclamation as a deputy became firm.
It is expected that at 6:00 pm all RM deputies will meet to discuss the issue of choosing their candidate for the presidency of the Assembly.
Martinelli’s favorite candidate for the presidency of the Assembly was his faithful friend Luis Eduardo Camacho. However, the elected representative of the 8-2 circuit, San Miguelito, announced on June 17 that he had made the decision to step aside and allow the group’s caucus to elect a new candidate. He communicated it through his X account.
José Raúl Mulino , president of the Republic as of July 1, issued a new warning to the Electric Transmission Company (Etesa), in relation to the mutual agreements in favor of its managers and executives: “Do not come to me with ‘legality’ of self-gifts… That is immoral and abusive. “That one who plays alive with people’s money doesn’t work.”
Mulino’s reaction comes shortly after the board of directors of Etesa, chaired by the Minister of Commerce and Industries, Jorge Rivera Staff , defended the compensation by mutual agreement that its general manager, Carlos Mosquera, will receive ; deputy manager Óscar Rendoll, and four other trusted officials.
The board of directors alleged, through a statement issued last Saturday, that its executives “have the right to sign mutual agreements, as has been done in previous administrations, and, in the same way, receive the labor benefits that correspond to them by law, such as vacations, thirteenth month, seniority bonus and the respective compensation, prior endorsement by the Comptroller General of the Republic.”
But Mulino, who last Friday publicly asked Comptroller Gerardo Solís not to endorse these compensations, reiterated this Monday his rejection of these disbursements.
“I publicly reiterate to the current comptroller of the Republic to refrain from endorsing these things. “ I will be the first defender of Panama’s resources,” the president-elect remarked on his account on the social network X.
Milton Ayón Wong , was appointed as superintendent of Banks of Panama by the elected president José Raúl Mulino .
The position of Superintendent of Banks must not be ratified by the Credentials Commission of the National Assembly.
“The Superintendency will have a Board of Directors and a Superintendent, appointed by the Executive Body. The appointment of the directors and the Superintendent is not subject to the ratification of the Legislative Body established by Law 3 of 1987,” establishes article 7 of the Banking Law.
The current superintendent of Banks Amauri Castillo ends his term at the end of this year. According to the Banking Law, the new superintendent will begin his duties on January 1 after the start of the ordinary presidential period.
Ayón Wong has extensive experience in the banking and insurance sector, as well as consulting.
He has been a manager at Real Panamena de Seguros; general manager and deputy general manager at Banco Real; general manager at ABN’AMRO Bank; and leading partner of Markets and Financial Audit at KPMG.
He is currently CEO and general manager of CredicorpBank, SA
He was president of the Banking Association of Panama, of the Latin American Federation of Banks (Felaban) and of the College of Authorized Public Accountants of Panama.
One of the challenges that the new superintendent has is to accelerate the integrated digital payments ecosystem.
An operation carried out by the Public Ministry and the National Police dismantled a criminal network in San Miguelito that evicted people from their residences and then occupied them for the sale of drugs and other criminal activities.
Operation Halcón , carried out by the Superior Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Illicit Association Crimes, resulted in the arrest of 12 people, including the leader of the Bagdag San Antonio gang that carried out criminal activities such as robbery, kidnapping, homicides and drug sales.
Prosecutor Sofía Carreño explained that the investigation against this criminal network began in 2022, during which time a large amount of information was collected about its members and the work they carried out within the gang.
Carreño explained that during the 28 raids carried out, a residence was located whose owners were evicted by the gang. It was reported that at the time of the raid, the house was occupied by minors and a certain amount of drugs was found.
For his part, Deputy Commissioner Edgar Vargas, of the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJ), explained that this gang operated as a subsidiary of Baghdad, through which they maintained a presence in San Miguelito to dispute the sale of drugs to other criminal networks. .
Vargas explained that in 2024 a total of 12 anti-gang operations were carried out, in which 250 people linked to various criminal activities were apprehended.
Investigations indicate that the members of the gang carry out their criminal activities in various parts of the San Miguelito district, in some of which they have disputes with other gangs.
According to the authorities, of the 36 homicides recorded until last May, in the district of San Miguelito, 80% of them are related to territorial disputes between gangs.
The National Border Service (Senafront) reported that two alleged members of a criminal group, dedicated to assaulting migrants, were injured after an exchange of gunfire in the province of Darién.
According to the authorities, the incident occurred last Sunday, June 23, when a reconnaissance patrol managed to detect a group of armed people, who responded with shots after being told to stop.
The two arrested people were injured in the exchange of gunfire; one in the chest and the other in the leg.
Commissioner Egar Pittí, from Senafront, reported that in the action they seized firearm ammunition, $6,439 in cash, 19 cell phones and clothing that are presumed to belong to irregular migrants crossing the Darién jungle, coming from Colombia.
“The operation was carried out in response to a series of reports of robberies against migrants in the Tuquesa River area,” Pittí stated.
In the last four years, Panama has registered a notable increase in migrants through the Darién jungle. This year, in six months, nearly 200 thousand people have already crossed. The majority of these travelers are destined to reach the United States.
Last year, Apple Pay was enabled in Panama so that users could pay and make transactions from their phones and even smart watches. And this week it was Google’s turn.
The Google Pay wallet was activated for users of Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards from several local banks such as General, BAC, Banesco, St Georges, Grupo Promerica and ScotiaBank among others that will update their service.
Google Pay serves as a payment gateway through the incorporation of debit and credit cards in the application on the smartphone on devices with Android and Wear OS operating systems.
The step by step
- The first thing users should do is download Google Wallet on their smartphone from the Google Play Store.
- Add the card information to your Google account and store it securely on the Google wallet platform.
- Google Pay has built-in security, such as fraud alerts and encryption for online payments. And it also allows you to choose the privacy settings.
- In the wallet the actual card numbers remain private.
- If your device is lost or stolen, you can use the ‘Find My Device’ feature to lock it, secure it with a new password, or erase all information instantly.