A good friend of mine, Security Minister Rodolfo Aguilera has established a very successful program that worked in Medellin, Colombia and is working in Colon.  Now it is time to fully fund this and make it a serious nation wide campaign as the gangs in the Cities are out of control.

As reported in BBC News, Panama’s murder rate has dropped by 21.4% in the first nine months of 2015 compared to the same period last year, official figures suggest.

In Colon, Panama’s most murderous city last year, the number of homicides more than halved, according to figures by the security ministry.

Officials say a program  to rehabilitate gang members has been key in driving the figure down.

But a poll suggests the perception of insecurity in Panama remains high.

Panama does not have as serious a gang problem as other Central American nations such as Honduras and El Salvador.

But Panamanian gangs are believed to be behind the majority of the murders committed in recent years and also play a key part in drug trafficking.

Security Minister Rodolfo Aguilera says a programme offering gang members an amnesty and vocational training to lure them away from crime has been instrumental in reducing homicides in 2015.

He says that across Panama, 100 fewer people were killed between January and September of this year than in the same period in 2014.

Panama homicide figures

Jan-Sept 2014: 468 murders

This remains comparable to the City of Chicago.