While suspicions grow in the media about the companies in the tender for Line 2 of the Panama Metro, the absence of US companies is surprising.

EDITORIAL

An article in Prensa.com reports that “… In the best value tender proposals have been submitted by three consortia composed of companies from China, Spain, one from Mexico, one from Brazil and one from Peru. It is noteworthy that none are from the United States, one of the largest investors in Panama and where the Metro is one of the main means of transportation. ”

It’s worth remembering that during the stoppage of works to expand the Panama Canal, the government of the United States criticized the award of the contract to Grupo Unidos por el Canal, whose financial viability was guaranteed by the Spanish State, and not by a market evaluation.
The North American company Bechtel was part of a consortium together with the Japanese Taisei and Mitsubishi, whose offer was considerably better than the one submitted by Grupo Unidos por el Canal.

Cables released by WikiLeaks indicated that “The U.S. suggested that Bechtel dispute the process due to violation of the rules of the competition, because the Spanish company had obtained state guarantees.

An article in Prensa.com also reports that “… China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), one of the companies which forms part of a consortium which made an offer in the tender for Line 2 of the Metro, has been disqualified from projects financed by the World Bank because of fraud and corruption. “This same Chinese construction company has been directly awarded a road works project in Costa Rica, funded in turn by the Chinese government, in a process that has generated intense controversy, and is still awaiting approval from the Costa Rican legislature.

Source: Prensa.com