Panama seizes record 84.6 tons of drugs in 2017


News from Panama

Panamanian authorities seized 84.6 tons of illicit drugs in 2017, setting a record in drug confiscation, government agencies said on Wednesday. The Ministry of Public Security, National Aeronaval Service, the National Border Service and the Police Department unveiled the figure at a press conference, saying international cooperation was key to successfully combating drug trafficking. A […]

January 1, 2018

Honduras, Panama to Transfer Embassies to Jerusalem, Following US and Guatemala


News from Panama

Honduran President Orlando Hernandez and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo Credit: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) Just two days after the president of Guatemala made history as the first Central American leader to announce his decision to relocate his nation’s embassy to Jerusalem, Honduras and Panama are following suit. Israel and Honduras signed a declaration on bilateral […]

January 1, 2018

Former Mexican Governor Extradited From Panama


News from Panama

Elida Moreno reports for Reuters of the extradition of Roberto Borge, a former state governor for Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to Mexican authorities to face corruption charges. Roberto Borge, who was governor of the state of Quintana Roo from 2010 to 2016, was arrested in Panama City in June as he was preparing to […]

January 1, 2018

2018 Car Sales Projections


News from Panama

The union of vehicle dealers in Panama expects stability in sales of new cars next year, after the year 2017 showed deceleration with respect to the previous year. Laestrella.com.pa reports that “…The executive explained in an interview with Xinhua that Panama should not expect to see a greater fall in 2018 than in 2017, following […]

January 1, 2018

Panama: Tourist Spending Continues to Slow Down


News from Panama

From January to October 2017, tourist spending grew by only 1.6% compared to the same period in 2016, significantly lower than the 13% recorded between 2015 and 2016. According to figures from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, during the first ten months of the year tourists who arrived in the country […]

January 1, 2018

Panama: $62 million for Tourism Works


News from Panama

The Ministry of Environment has announced that using IADB funds, the infrastructure of four protected areas in the provinces of Veraguas, Colón and Chiriquí will be renovated. According to the Environment Minister, Emilio Sempris, most of the funds will be invested in the Coiba de Veraguas National Park, which will be allocated about $27 million […]

January 1, 2018

Atlantic Conquest


News from Panama

This is a very scary but true story of a land grabber here in Panama and the threats to the region caused by exploitation of our natural resources. The road being opened through the mountains of Veraguas was planned in the mid 1970s, during the regime of General Omar Torrijos. The commander of a country […]

January 1, 2018

Jaguar conservation depends on neighbor attitudes


News from Panama

A jaguar named Aquiles caught in a camera trap image taken in Cana, Panama. The number one cause of jaguar deaths in Panama is retaliation for livestock predation. Enclosing livestock in corrals during the night can significantly reduce encounters with predators. (Photo by Ricardo Moreno) The Smithsonian Insider reports on the conservation efforts here in […]

January 1, 2018

UNESCO recognizes Panama’s hats _ no, not those ones


News from Panama

Cultural authorities at UNESCO have recognized the artisans of Panama for their distinctive woven hats. No, not those hats; the famed “Panama hat” comes from Ecuador. Panama’s real contribution to the world’s hat heritage is the pintao, or painted hat, handmade from five different plants and a dose of swamp mud. Production of the circular-brimmed […]

January 1, 2018