The first part of this post is a video interview that I found very interesting and the second part, a perspective from my friend John Wolff. First, click on the above picture to hear Dr. David Katz.  Preventive medicine and public health specialist Dr. David Katz joins Bill to discuss whether the fight against coronavirus […]

This is a great presentation by Jose Manuel Bern, one of Panama’s largest developers.  Hosted by Jose and a friend of mine, Liz Larroquete they held a webinar this week and I am glad to say I participated.  Jose speaks from the heart as his father, Mother and Brother were all exposed to the virus.  […]

Given the crisis generated by the covid-19 virus, the authorities decided to extend the suspension of international commercial air passenger transport frequencies until 23 May. The measure was announced by Resolution 053-DG-DJ-AAC, published in the edition of the Official Digital Journal on April 20, 2020. See full document. See “Tourism, Business and the New Commercial […]

Capt. Kostas Andreou of M/Y Global took the 220-foot (67m) shadow boat through the Panama Canal this week en route to the Philippines. The vessel has been sold and the new owner is in Hong Kong. “I’m heading to Tahiti for fueling and then to Subic Bay,” he wrote. Glad to see the crew and […]

A Smithsonian Institute scientific mission discovered some of the country’s largest trees in the Darien Forest while seeking to establish an Ancestral Forest Observatory In collaboration with international scientists, the Emberá communities of the Balsa River and the National Border Service (Seafront) The latest technology light aircraft capable of taking three-dimensional aerial photos were used […]

Carnival Corp. is raising billions of dollars to weather the pandemic, and the near-total shutdown of its business—but it’s not giving up Panama. The world’s largest cruise company and its main competitors have long maintained headquarters in Miami but legal incorporation elsewhere, largely for tax reasons. That foreign allegiance backfired on the industry last month, […]

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired his health minister on Thursday after clashing with him over how to fight the new coronavirus, and again called for states to end stay-at-home orders that he said were hurting the economy. Few global leaders have done more than Bolsonaro to play down the pandemic, which has killed nearly 2,000 […]

Latin America’s ‘lost decade’ traditionally refers to the 1980s, when countries were forced to tightened their belts to meet debt payments. Could this happen again? The coronavirus pandemic may spark another “lost decade” in Latin America, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday, April 16. Alejandro Werner, the fund’s western hemisphere head, said the […]

The Panama Canal is suspending the second update to the maximum draught allowable at the neo-panamax locks, published 19 March. Recent rainfall in the Canal watershed has allowed the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to suspend the draught reduction announced in Advisory to Shipping A-09-2020, which was scheduled to become effective 17 April 2020. As a […]

The prospect of the coronavirus pandemic entering prisons is devastating in any country of the world given how dicult it would be, in such precarious environments, to prevent the virus from spreading. In Panama, we support prisons by providing hygiene, prevention and infrastructure supplies to tackle this global threat. “Dad, now all of us are […]