News
Wednesday 4th June 2025.
June 3, 2025
Minister of the Presidency Juan Carlos Orillac addressed the situation in Bocas del Toro on Tuesday, June 3 , where road closures remain in place. In his remarks, he emphatically stated that the government is seeking to avoid resorting to force.
“But you know this issue is very delicate. We don’t want a situation anywhere near what happened years ago,” said Orillac, who added that President José Raúl Mulino has said he doesn’t want that scenario.
“That would be the ultimate mechanism, forcibly opening the streets in a place where there is, let’s say, history regarding this,” the minister said on TVN Noticias .
Orillac also pointed to the presence of infiltrators in the protests. “And what we understand is that there are many infiltrators, who are trying to create a martyr in the streets,” he stated.
In July 2010, after several days of clashes between workers and National Police officers, several day laborers were killed and more than 500 were injured.
At the time, they were opposed to the controversial Chorizo Law (Law of June 30, 2010), so named because, in addition to issuing measures to promote the development of commercial aviation, it introduced reforms to the Penal, Labor, and Judicial Codes, and to six laws, including the Organic Law of the Police, the Law on Public Procurement, and the Law on the Environment.
This happened during the administration of former President Ricardo Martinelli, and the Minister of Government and Justice was Mulino.
Regarding the impact on education of the teachers’ strike since April 23, Orillac indicated that there has been a planned and gradual return to classes. “More and more schools are open, students are attending, and teachers are serving students,” he asserted. However, he acknowledged that the damage has already been done.
On the other hand, Minister Orillac criticized the misinformation surrounding Law 462: “Law 462 does not address any situation that affects anyone. What they have tried to send as a message are lies. And they have tried to confuse the population and have found an excuse to create the situation that is occurring today.”
A team of anti-corruption prosecutors from the Public Ministry conducted an on-site inspection of the National Assembly offices this Tuesday, following a complaint filed by the Comptroller General’s Office regarding the alleged existence of “bottles,” or people who receive a salary but do not work.
In a video released by Telemetro Reporta , at least six people were seen walking through the halls of the Justo Arosemena Palace. The team is led by prosecutors Adela Cedeño and Azucena Aizpurúa.
The purpose of the investigation is to gather evidence, verify documentation, and make direct observations that may serve as evidence in the criminal proceedings.
“The National Assembly has fully cooperated with us to provide us with the necessary documentation (…)” stated Prosecutor Cedeño.
According to sources from the National Assembly, prosecutors are conducting their investigations at the General Secretariat , located on the fifth floor of the new parliamentary building.
La Prensa called Secretary General Carlos Alvarado to comment on the issue, but he did not respond.
Public Ministry officials review documents, inspect computers, and consult with staff to verify possible irregularities.
In Panama, the figure of the ocular inspection is regulated by the Criminal Procedure Code , specifically in Article 318 , which is part of Chapter IV: Investigation Acts that do not Require Authorization from the Judge of Guarantees .
This article establishes that officers of investigative bodies, under the direction of the prosecutor in charge, must guard the crime scene and verify, through inspection of the location and property, traces and other material effects resulting from the punishable act.
The Comptroller’s Office, headed by Anel Flores , filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office on May 21. This legal action seeks to investigate the alleged commission of crimes against public administration against the National Assembly , after detecting the payment of salaries to officials who allegedly failed to comply with their work schedules.
The investigation covers the use of public funds intended for salaries and special services and targets ” the National Assembly employees who were not at their posts in accordance with the verification of positions, attendance control, and payments carried out by the Comptroller General of the Republic, in the exercise of its constitutional and legal functions .”
Among the evidence presented by the Comptroller’s Office and, according to the complaint, handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office are simple copies of ACH payments, attendance records, issued checks, a copy of a May 15 memorandum signed by the Comptroller’s Office’s Head of Oversight, and copies of three resolutions issued last February, through which the entity ordered the audits, among other documents.
He also submitted a list of 121 officials who, according to the Comptroller’s Office, could not justify their performance of duties and who initially had their salaries for the last half of May withheld.
Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez addressed U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s intentions this Tuesday, June 3 , to have his government’s ships pass through the Panama Canal first and for free.
Vásquez reiterated that the Neutrality Treaty and the constitutional title of the Panama Canal are clear and that nothing has changed in terms of tolls for U.S. Navy vessels.
“The only thing we’ve said is that we want to hear what the aspirations are, but we have a very clear and well-defined legal framework that establishes that all transit through the Panama Canal, and in the case of warships, except for Colombian naval vessels, following the Treaty of Montería , are the only ones that transit free of charge. All other vessels pay, both Panamanian and those of any other flag,” Vásquez stated.
The interoceanic waterway administrator’s response comes after the U.S. ambassador to Panama, Kevin Marino Cabrera , expressed last Thursday—according to an EFE report from Miami—that both governments are seeking a “mechanism” to allow U.S. military vessels to pass through the Panama Canal free of charge.
“Aspirationally, I can address the United States’ request, but if that’s the case, I’d also have to address the requests of all the countries. We’d have to see what they’re aspiring to,” Vásquez said.
A violent shootout broke out Tuesday morning in Patio Limpio, in the El Chorrillo neighborhood in the center of the capital, an event that generated moments of terror among the area’s residents.
A video circulating on social media shows several individuals exchanging gunfire in the middle of a street, while neighbors run for cover. Multiple gunshots can be heard in the footage, and the arrival of members of the National Police can be seen, who launched an operation to regain control of the area.
Following the incident, police arrested seven people, three of them minors. Those arrested are believed to be linked to the shooting and will be handed over to the relevant authorities for further investigation.
According to National Police authorities contacted by La Prensa , it was supposedly a confrontation between two factions of the Calor Calor gang : Calor Patio Limpio versus Calor Patio Sucio.
The incident arose when three people from one of the parties attempted to attack the other group.
The incident generated such a level of tension that, amid the chaos, some local residents, along with members of one of the feuding gangs, sought to take justice into their own hands and attempted to remove the detainees from the police patrol.
It was then that an armed officer intervened to control the situation.
Germán Tenorio, head of the Eighth Zone of the National Police, reported that the incident left three people injured , who were taken to a medical center.
“They’re stable. One is injured in the leg, another in the neck, and the third has a wound around the eye. They remain stable,” Tenorio assured.
According to data from judicial and security authorities, at least 180 criminal groups operate in Panama.
Recently, the director of the National Police , Jaime Fernández, presented a grim assessment of this issue to the Panama City Council: 90% of the homicides recorded in the country are linked to these criminal organizations.
According to the study, several Panamanian gangs have achieved a remarkable capacity for mobility. That is, they are no longer fixed structures anchored to a neighborhood; they now form cells in different urban and rural areas.
The process for the repatriation of minor Yibelis Yulieth Cuevas Peña concluded last Friday, May 30, with her return to Panama from Nicaragua , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday .
In a statement, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry detailed that the Nicaraguan Ministry of Family Affairs formally handed over the Panamanian minor to the Panamanian ambassador to Nicaragua, Davis Rodríguez. The minor was received by Rosa María Bakes, an official from the General Directorate of Foreign Policy, who was designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to accompany her on her transfer to Panamanian soil.
It is also noted that the minor was received by her family, accompanied by personnel from the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents, and Families, and the Superior Prosecutor’s Office for International Affairs of the Attorney General’s Office.
On April 5, 2025, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry reported that the minor Yibelis Julieth Cuevas Peña, 14 years old and who had an Amber Alert since November 19, 2024 , had been located in Nicaragua.
Panama formally inaugurated the Santiago Solar Park, a $70 million investment by the Naiad Renovables Group with a capacity to produce 86,333 megawatts peak (MWP), providing a new boost to renewable energy in this country, where the photovoltaic and wind energy segments accounted for 12.9% of total electricity generation in 2024.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI) reported this Tuesday that the “Santiago Solar” project has a long-term contract with the Enel Group (Italy) and is located in La Mesa, Veraguas province.
It features more than 130,000 bifacial solar panels and has generated more than 300 jobs and the planting of 15,000 native seedlings, as part of the environmental component of the renewable energy project.
Naiad Group spokesperson David Sanmartín Catalán explained, according to a statement from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MICI), that the project was carried out with the support of local banks and has a long-term power purchase agreement with the Enel Group, which guarantees financial and operational stability for the initiative.
“Panama is a safe country to invest in. This experience has only confirmed this. There are difficulties like any other country, but here the institutions work, there is committed human talent, and enormous development potential,” said the representative of the Naiad Group, which has a presence in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Chile, Panama, and Guatemala, according to company data.
According to data from the National Energy Secretariat
cited by Mici, in 2024 the national interconnected system reached a total electricity generation of 13,096.36 gigawatt hours, with hydroelectric plants as the main source with a contribution of 59.69%, followed by natural gas (17.13%) and renewable energies (solar and wind) with a contribution of 12.92%.