Severe damage
Tracts of arable land were severely damaged during the floods that drenched the provinces of Coclé, Colón, Kuna Yala and the western Panama region late November. The financial consequences of the floods are still being calculated. A number of rural communities, such as Peñas Blancas, where 70 families lived before the flood, will have to be relocated.

Several countries including Japan and Taiwan sent food and emergency equipment to Panama in the days after the floods.

The US Army sent three helicopters to Panama as well as food and medical supplies, in an operation called "We Are United With You". The US Southern Command also sent to Panama 35 people, among them fifteen members of the search and rescue teams and others of administrative support, according to a communiqué from the American Embassy.

The heavy rains and winds also caused 11 deaths, serious damage to highways and bridges located in the provinces of Coclé, Colon and western Panama, left 2, 561 people affected, 741 people homeless, 166 houses totally damaged and 584 with partial damage.

A private Panamanian helicopter crashed because of strong winds in the mountains of Coclé province, while on a humanitarian mission taking aid to the thousands of victims. The pilot and crew were injured and transferred to hospitals in Panama City where their condition was reported to be stable.

Closer trade links with Europe, Russia
While the negotiations for a free trade agreement with the United States remain stagnant, there is a possibility of negotiations with Europe.

“Co-operation between the European Union and the government of Panama is positive”, said Tomas Abadia, chargé d’affaires of the European Block for Costa Rica and Panama, in referring to the long-term programming from 2002 to 2006 that involved non-refundable financing for US$37.4-million.

Meanwhile the Russians are interested in Panamanian bananas, pineapples, melons and other tropical fruits it was announced by Eugeny R. Voronin, ambassador of the Russian Federation in Panama City. "We have made a formal invitation to the Panamanian Foreign Minister, Samuel Lewis Navarro to visit out country in the first days of next year, with the purpose of making trade agreements and those of bilateral cooperation", he said.

Economy good but overspending looms.
The Panamanian economy maintains an 8 percent growth rate accumulated in the Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE), according to the economic report for the third quarter of 2006 released by the Ministry of Economy and Finances (MEF). The report indicates that the equilibrium is due to the good dynamics in the labor market, the reduction of inflation, the drop of the petroleum prices and growth of exports.

The Minister of Economy and Finances, Carlos Vallarino, announced recently that the deficit for the year 2007 would equal 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP). However, the government budget contemplates a deficit of US$697-million. That total, according to some economists, will represent between 3.9% and 4.2% of the GDP, double that announced.

The Budget Commission of the National Assembly held the first debate on the State budget. The proposal of US$7,375,976-million is 8% higher that of 2006, and Vallarino declared himself satisfied with the growth shown in the domestic economy.

Seek to save Bella Vista
The Education Commission of the National Assembly, led by the deputy Denis Arce Morales, presented the draft of law 233 that seeks to include as a Historic Monument, the suburb of Bella Vista, where there are many last-century homes and buildings. Morales calls for safeguards on the architectural style of the buildings and houses to avoid deterioration and to try to "save the history" of the country.

Lack of Jobs
Panama’s rate of unemployment is estimated at 8.6% it is also estimated that, on the average, six out of each 10 Panamanian youths who receive their university certificate to start a career, fail to find work.

More vehicles sold
Automobile sales figures show growth of 25% this year. According to the Traffic Registry of Panama, to date more than 25,000 new vehicles have been sold.

Cash from consuls
Panamanian consulates abroad collected US$27.2-million in the first semester of 2006, with a 2.4 percent growth (US$648,191) in comparison with the same period of 2005, says a report from the Comptroller’s Office.

No consensus on immigration
In spite of the fact that over the past five years the number of immigrants to Panama has increased considerably, the country does not yet have unified legislation on immigration and depends on a variety of norms in force since 1960. A planned law on the subject has been in the National Assembly for more than one year without having been discussed because there is no consensus, reported the Director of Immigration, Ricardo Vargas.

Global Panama
Panama is the most globalized country in Latin America and Brazil is in the lower range of the index on this matter, according to the Latin American Globalization Index 2006 published by Latin Business Chronicle. According to the index, that analyzes 19 countries, the factors that impact on globalization have to do with export and import of goods and services and foreign direct investment.

Animal Health
From next year Panama will be the sub regional headquarters of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), an intergovernmental agency whose main objective is to guarantee the transparency of the animal health situation in the world for which each country is committed to declare animal illnesses.

State Modernizes Payments
The State is implementing a system of electronic payment that will replace checks and permit officials to receive their salaries through debit cards or in savings accounts.

Social Security problems continue
A year after the implementation of Law 51 reorganizing the Social Security Fund (CSS) that was intended to improve the situation and correct administrative and financial irregularities, things are not well in the program of Invalidity, Old age and Death (IVM) which will show an approximate deficit of US$80-million.

Tocumen is Champion
The International Airport of Tocumen S.A. received the prize for excellence after the Latin American Association "Air-High" recognized it as the best air terminal of the region. Air-High is an association of more than 30 airlines of the continent and a large number of airport users.

Traffic Jams
The Ministry of Public Works (MOP) recently revealed a list of 73 critical traffic points in the Panama City metropolitan area. The list includes the Los Pueblos shopping district, the Vía España district and the intersection of Avenida Tumba Muerto and the highway leading to the Centennial Bridge.

Retirees on strike
Retirees engaged in a series of street protests in Panama City in late November demanding a $30.00 raise in their monthly pension. The daily protests, which took place on Vía Transístmica near the University of Panama, caused a week-long series of traffic jams in Panama City. As of this issue, strike leaders were threatening to stage more protests near the Presidential Palace. The last raise to their pensions was approved in 2001.

Cupboard bare for pensioners
There is no money for increases. This was the answer given by the government to the pensioners who have been asking for an increase of US$30 a month since October 9. At a press conference, the Second Vice-President, Ruben Arosemena, said that to increase pensions to 153,380 retirees by US$30 a month would imply an annual distribution by the Social Security Fund (CSS) of US$48.9-million.

David's airport to be expanded
Panama's Civil Aviation Authority recently approved the expansion of the runway of David's Enrique Malek International Airport, which will allow the landing of larger, international airliners in the country's third largest city. The works, which will take place next year, also call for the enlargement of the terminal –a much needed project due to the increase of visitors to David in recent years. David is the provincial capital of Chiriqui –a favorite destination for second-home buyers and retirees from Europe and North America. Approximately 100,000 passengers depart or arrive in David via the Enrique Malek airport.

More People Flying
Passenger air transport on domestic flights increased 30% for the year-end season, and it is forecast that this rise will be maintained throughout the dry season, according to Odalys Guerra, sales manager of Air Panama, particularly to the provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro and to the Comarca of San Blas.

Fish Threatened
Cottage industry fishermen of the Gulf of Patria, in Herrera province, denounced before the Commerce Commission of the Legislative Assembly that shrimp and sardine trawlers are "devastating" fish species on the coasts of the Pacific in detriment to thousands of families of the provinces of Los Santos, Herrera and Coclé that depend on the fishing activity.

Panamanians are humorous by nature. They enjoy making jokes of virtually every situation, even when enduring social or financial difficulties. But beware! Their offering of pranks, jokes and other mischiefs will double on December 28, the day observed throughout Latin America as "El Día de los Inocentes" ("All Inocent’s Day"), the equivalent of April Fool’s Day up north.

In the western sector of the province of Panama, especially in the towns along the Pan-American Highway, good Panamanian humor is also observed with the making of "Judas", life-sized dolls made with straw, plastic or any other material and representing the most prominent (or infamous) figures of the year: political figures, criminals, sports champions, beauty queens and even the president or the First Lady.

Representing the old year, Judases are burnt at midnight on December 31 with a display of fireworks. During the weeks before New Year’s Eve, they are proudly displayed on the shoulders of the highway or at nearby houses, where visitors are allowed to have their pictures taken with them.

Monagrillo: Panama’s laughter capital

"Tipico" music stars Samy & Sandra Sandoval,who hail from Monagrillo, live up to their town's humorous stereotype.

If you ever find yourself in the town of Monagrillo (a suburb of Chitré, the provincial capital of Herrera), get ready to laugh. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, locals will try to make you understand with their funny gestures. It is said that no visitor (foreign or Panamanian) leaves town without a new nickname.

Nobody knows for sure when the Monagrilleros became the country’s number one jokers. The truth is that not even the world-renowned Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery escaped from the humor of a Monagrillera when a few years ago, during a gala dinner offered in his honor at the presidential palace. Sandra Sandoval, one of the country’s most famous "Tipico" music stars, suddenly appeared in her usual sexy attire to the amazement of the tuxedo-wearing guests. She pointed at a red-faced Connery and referred to him as "ese viejo" ("that old man") and dedicated a song to him which features that phrase in the title.

By David Dell.

Brother Elred Joseph Wetli is a legend in the town of Volcan. He is the closest thing to a living saint that many in the Catholic diocese of Volcan have seen. He came to this small mountain community with five other Benedictine monks in 1961 and started the first library and agricultural junior high school called San Benito.

The handsome soldier, WWII.

I was invited to meet this living legend by Osvaldo Flores, a former student. Osvaldo said we would be sure to find Brother Elred in the place that has been the center of his life for forty years–the school library. Before I had even entered the building I saw this 95 year old man sitting hunched in a wheel chair at the entrance desk. He had a copy of the Readers’ Digest Bible in front of him, and although too old and infirm to be of any real help in the library, he still contributes just by his very presence.

When introduced he pulled a gnarled and arthritic hand from under a blanket and extended it toward me with a warm, bright smile.

Brother Elred, or simply "El Brother" as he is known locally, has taught countless local children the English language. His feeling was that knowledge of English would give the children greater opportunities in life. That has turned out to be almost prophetically true as dozens of local children from this small mountain town now enjoy high paying jobs all over the world as ships officers, university professors and teachers, thanks to the efforts of this determined and humble Benedictine monk.

As part of my personal community project I plan to scan and catalogue photographs of the history of Volcan and its people. Later that day, as I sat and copied dozens of photographs of Brother Eldred’s life, the full significance of this man’s contribution to this town came into focus.

Elred Welti with South Pacific Children, WWII.

60-year-old photographs of a tall, handsome soldier dressed in full battle order stared out at me from the pages of a scrap book. As I flipped the pages my eye caught several other pictures of the same soldier relaxing on a warn-torn South Pacific island. A crowd of ragged children surrounds the smiling soldier. The pictures speak volumes about the man. Even in those dark and tragic days of World War II, this man’s life course was being formed.

Eldred had served as a signal sergeant in the US army in the world war II Pacific campaign, with tours of duty in the Palau and Solomon islands and finally in Japan.

Elred Welti (center) with the original five benedictines in Volcán, 1961.

After the war, in 1950, he enrolled in the Benedictine’s Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, Colorado. In 1961, together with five fellow brothers he arrived in Volcan, Panama and started the San Benito Agricultural school.

Receiving the St. Gregory Order.

Eventually all of the monks were recalled to the US but Elred refused, stating that this is where he wanted to be and where he would serve until he died.

I recall looking at the picture taken in 1990. A local bishop, in behalf of Pope John Paul the second, conferred the Order of Saint Gregory on Eldred. Even then the eyes that gazed out from the picture were one of a man already tired and heavy with years.

I have talked to several ex students who credit Brother Elred for helping them in reaching their life’s goal. He is regarded by all with love, affection and in some cases almost saintly reverence. I asked Elred what he regarded as his greatest triumph, was it the growing of the trees or the teaching of English. He felt both were equally important but he did add that, "English is the nearest thing to a universal language."

Interviewing Elred was a difficult task. Clearly his memory and mind are not a sharp as they once were. Elred had a first class college education and had all the attributes to be a captain of industry or at the very least a rich and successful businessman. I mentioned all this and asked him if he had any regrets. In one of his rare moments of lucidity he smiled, looked directly into my eyes and said. "no regrets, I have no regrets."

Brother Elred, 1990

Brother Elred Wetli’s earthly course will soon be over. Osvaldo Flores tells me that when that sad, but inevitable day arrives, Elred will be laid to rest next to the chapel that sits on the school campus at San Benito. Today, this simple, one-room building stands surrounded by dozens of healthy trees- trees that Elred himself had planted some 40 years earlier.

Brother Elred, 2006

Elred Joseph Wetli, Volcan’s last Benedictine monk is a man who witnessed the horrors of war and later found an abundance of peace in a small Panamanian town, a man who has dedicated his life to serving his God and fellow man with love, compassion and humility.

I feel privileged to have met him.

Dear Mr. Stiff:
First of all, we would like to thank you for your interest in our restaurant and for writing a critique about it in The Visitor. We are sure your story has caused a positive impact among our clientele.

We would also like to tell you that the recipe for our "hot and sour" soup, which was not totally to your liking, has been the subject of an in-depth revision by our staff and after a number of trials, we have developed a much better rendition of the dish. We would like to ask you come to lunch again in order to try the new version of the soup. Food will be on the house.

Best wishes,

Fernando Mtz-Taboada
Restaurante Madame Chang

Safeguarding the city's wild critters

By Gabriel Leonard

With skyscrapers and malls appearing "by the minute" within and around its limits, Panama City is a growing, metropolis, but it is a tropical city in which small, creatures share space with Homo sapiens.

Panama City’s outskirts blend with the green forests of the Panama Canal watershed, which means that many small mammals, reptiles and exotic birds easily make their way to densely populated districts via the area’s sprawling suburbs. To the south, the city borders the Bay of Panama, which, despite its levels of pollution, is still a haven for many species. But, what to do when raccoons get in your kid’s pool in Paitilla, or a baby cunamundee greets you in your backyard in Albrook?

A rare crested eagle undergoes treatment.

This is the job of Asociación Panamericana para la Conservación (APPC), a non-profit organization established to educate the public on the proper treatment of wild species trapped in human environments and their release into their natural habitat.

Headed by Nestor Correa, a U.S.-trained biologist who is currently working on a doctoral degree in zoology, the association was established in 2005. Through its Animal Rescue Program, the APPC also seeks to educate the public on the problems caused by illegal hunting.

One particular case treated recently at the APPC was that of a crested eagle, a rare bird that resembles the Harpy Eagle –Panama’s national bird. Rescued in mid-November after living as a pet in eastern Panama, the animal was delivered to the APPC with a severely-damaged claw, which forced the bird to use one of its wings as a crutch. Due to the nature of the injury, the staff was forced to seek help from international animal conservation organizations and an operation date was set for December. Unfortunately, the health of the bird deteriorated and it was put to sleep.

José Luis Ortega poses with a rainbow toucan.

Another way humans are inflicting terrible damage on wild animals is domestication. He said: "Domestication completely eliminates an animal’s means of survival in the wild. Whenever owners finally understand that a feline or a monkey cannot be kept as a pet, they decide to release the animal into the wild, but having endured several months or years in captivity, pets are completely void of basic survival instincts, and often die in a matter of days."

With the aid of people like José Luis Ortega, an expert in cold-blooded animals, the APPC has established a temporary care station for animals at its headquarters at the City of Knowledge, in Clayton. The animals are fed, and treated if necessary by vets and after a quarantine established by ANAM (Panama’s national environmental agency) they are "re-educated" and carefully re-introduced into their natural habitats. Since its establishment, the APPC has treated approximately 65 animals, including crocodiles, snakes, raccoons, opossum, felines and birds.

A Black-and-White Eagle.

One of the organization’s objectives in the short term is to educate the public and animal rescue personnel (firemen, police officers and ANAM personnel) on the proper handling of tropical species through a series of lectures in communities around the greater Panama City area.

Another objective is to establish a lab in which animals are tested for disease and blood steroid levels (an indicator of stress and potential dangers in each region).

The APPC is funded by a number of international organizations, including the Tropical Taxonomy Institute of the Forest Service of the United States, the Conservation Fund of Sea World-Bush Gardens and the University of Illinois.

For more information, call (507) 202-5995 or log on to www.panamericancon.org

By Craig J. Weincek

When Panamanians refer to "Bocas," they’re really referring to a state of mind, rather than Bocas Town or "Archipielago de Bocas Del Toro", Bocas is a place surrounded by water -- a collection of islands and at least two peninsulas from Panama’s north western main land, not far from Costa Rica on the Caribbean coast.

Bocas is a place where people escape. People from Panama City go there to escape the fast pace of the city, while tourists from the states or Canada might simply be escaping cold weather. It’s fun, with water taxis as the main form of transportation from one bar to the next or across the bay to a small water-front hotel.

The residents make an interesting study. Bocas in some ways feels like a frontier town, a kind of primitive Key West with far fewer gays. With a strong Caribbean influence, there are more blacks than the rest of the country and some Rastas. Of course there are indigenous indians, mostly Kunas, working as cooks, fishing outside the breakers and driving water taxis.

Most evenings, a visitor can sit on the balcony of the "El Pecado" (which translates as “the sin”), restaurant over a plate of steaming Red Snapper and watch the locals walking down the middle of the street, alongside the taxis and the occasional pick-up truck. From the second floor it’s easy to observe the thin, tall Rastafarian, in a red, green and black knit cap, pretending to make conversation with a backpacker as he sells her some ganja.

Soon a young stocky black guy in a red tee shirt can be spotted pulling a large white model airplane behind on a string. Suddenly, he breaks into a run and the fantasy version of an airliner is airborne for a moment. Coming down "Calle 3 D," the main drag, from the other direction is a small, informal marching band, led by two majorettes, two well-built young ladies in tank tops and wedgie sandals. The band features three xylophone players, an assortment of trumpets and trombones followed by one bass and one snare drum. A lanky guy walks alongside with a flag, probably wondering who called band practice at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night.

Later, at the Barco Hundido, a hotspot with a lighted submerged shipwreck surrounded by decking, tourist gals with their navels exposed dance to the loud Reggaeton, while looking for guiltless sex, cheerfully offered by smiling local fellas, while men in their thirties and forties in flower-print shirts look around the room for love that’s probably not there.

At least a third of the whites, particularly the pale young adults smothered in sun block, walking down the main drag, have their backpacks slung over their shoulders. Then there’s the rugged individuals, who have a place on the water, mostly retired ex-pats—skinny guys with ponytails and engineering degrees, who own and operate "Tiki" bars; gravelly voiced, bleached blonde middle-aged divorced women, not completely over their cocaine habits; middle-aged guys in baseball caps, who own nice fishing boats; and quite a few couples, building a new life on the outskirts of civilization.

They all dock their boats at the El Pirate bar and restaurant or at the Cocomo By-the-Sea bed and breakfast or at one of the small marinas and walk into town making stops at one of the Chinese markets, at the only bank in town and maybe the hardware store or lumber yard. They fill a couple of spare tanks with diesel and start their outboard engines for a cruise through the clear water back home.

The coastlines of the various islands, Isla Colón, Bastimentos, Solarte, San Cristobal, Cayo Agua or the Peninsula Valiente, are dotted with houses, some substantial beach bungalows; some thatched roof huts; some modest wood-frame cottages; some one step up from lean-to; all standing out in the turquoise shallows on stilts, concrete docks or wooden pilings. Many are works in progress with lumber stacked on shore or empty holes where windows will someday be positioned. Work may have been interrupted by divorce or a lack of funds or simply inertia, a danger in the tropics.

The only way to get to these alternative living quarters is by boat. Most dwellings face out to sea and are attached to a parcel of land, from a couple of hectares of jungle to an entire mangrove island. They call these places fincas, which is Spanish for farm, though few have many animals or crops, maybe a horse and certainly some orange and lime trees.

With the help of generators and solar panels, daily life can be far more comfortable and wireless computer friendly than the subsistence existence of an Indian neighbor. (During a recent visit, I was with a friend who was looking at property and our guide took his boat on a wrong turn down a narrow waterway between mangrove roots. At a muddy flat opening, a large "cayuco" with four smiling Indians aboard wallowed in the murky shallows. A smallish cow also stood in the long dug-out canoe. Upon closer inspection, I was able to see three more cows, tied at the ankles lying in the bottom of the boat. On shore, a bemused Indian man in a dirty baseball cap, sleeveless tee shirt and rubber boots shook his head. It seems that the guys were selling this livestock door to door.)

It is clear that isolation is the goal—milky way lit nightscapes; howler monkeys and Toucans calling from the bright green canopy of trees; fry jumping and scattering just in front of the teeth of tuna and jacks in the dark green bays. The sun seems to set in the south behind the jagged blue crest of mountains dividing the mainland is the distance.

There is a steel-gray stretch of water known as "Dolphin Bay" and indeed that’s where hundreds of dolphins play in the wake of passing speedboats. Red frogs actually do speckle the landscape where the controversial resort named after the frogs is rising from the sand and threatening the spawning ground of sea turtles. Spiny lobster hide among the yellow, orange and blue corral, as do groupers, while conch crawl across the sandy bottom that’s spotted with starfish.

No doubt about it, this unspoiled natural beauty is a main reason that the retired stock broker and his ex-teacher wife; the couple who hopes to open a yoga retreat; the survivalist fed up with government, any government; the artist looking for a retreat conducive to creativity—whether writing a novel or sculpting in wood; the schemer buying up island property for future development; the loner, who really wants to be left alone; have all come to Bocas. They are all trying to escape what they consider the ordinary neighborhood of crowded shopping centers and traffic-jammed highways.

It often rains in Bocas—torrential downpours that blur the outline of islands nearby--but the sun always returns and sparkles the usually calm seascape. And if the generator is turned off, it’s quiet.