Author: Sebastian Pieper
The Panama municipal police force has become the focus of a deepening constitutional dispute as Mayor Mayer Mizrachi defends expanded authority to search, detain, and temporarily hold individuals. Panama’s Supreme Court recently admitted an unconstitutionality claim against Agreement 162, the June 17, 2025 regulation that created that broader mandate, placing the future of local policing powers before the country’s highest tribunal. Presidential Opposition and Legal Challenges President José Raúl Mulino has not hidden his disapproval of the new municipal police model. In a public message, the president argued that municipal forces were originally created to protect parks and monuments, not…
A Panamanian court has imposed a 15-year prison term on an emergency physician whose aggravated rape conviction stems from the assault of a female patient inside the very hospital where he worked. The ruling, announced on August 11, 2026, also bars the doctor from practicing medicine for five years after his release. The case has reignited concerns about patient safety and institutional failures in Panama’s public healthcare system. Aggravated Rape Conviction and Sentencing Details The sentence, identified as No. 103-2026, came from the Oral Trial Court in Panama Oeste. Judges deliberated after a four-day trial held July 22, 23, 27…
A housing tax relief proposal delivered to Panama’s National Assembly on August 13, 2026 would exempt the first $120,000 of a new home’s taxable value from the real estate transfer tax known as ITBI. Economy and Finance Minister Felipe Chapman presented the measure and framed it as a direct response to citizen concerns about access to homeownership, especially for families with lower incomes. The bill now faces three rounds of legislative debate before any final approval. How the Housing Tax Relief Proposal Works The initiative focuses on the first sale of new homes that meet requirements set out in the…
A fleet of drones is scanning the capital’s shoreline for trash clusters while workers pull solid waste from river channels and mangrove roots, launching a visible Panama Bay recovery push on August 13. The operation stretches from the Amador Causeway to Costa del Este and aims to intercept garbage before it reaches the Pacific. City officials said crews began sanitation and recovery work in the Matías Hernández and Río Abajo rivers, along with coastal zones, mangroves and sectors of Panama Bay. The immediate tasks include collecting and extracting solid waste, cleaning contaminated areas, restoring mangrove cover and responding to critical…
Drivers who inch through the Southern Corridor between Atlapa and Costa del Este at rush hour already know the routine of brake lights, exhaust and lost time. A $300 million overhaul now seeks to remove the toll plazas, widen the marine viaduct and add capacity along 17 kilometers of one of Panama City’s most important east-west arteries. ENA Sur, S.A. submitted a Category II Environmental Impact Assessment to the Ministry of Environment, outlining a project that will reshape bridges, interchanges and the highway’s entire toll collection model. Why the Southern Corridor Demands a Full Redesign The existing highway can no…
Authorities in central Panama are investigating the death of Ivis Ubarte, a 23-year-old female footballer killed during a home invasion in El Ciruelito de Antón on Tuesday night, August 11. Ubarte, known as “La Rosadita,” played for Inter Panamá CF in the Liga Femenina de Fútbol and had taken part in multiple Panamanian national team call-ups. No arrests had been confirmed as of the latest police update. The killing has triggered a joint homicide and femicide investigation, with police and prosecutors working to establish whether the attack was gang related, targeted, or connected to gender-based violence. Female Footballer Killed in…
Ventura Vega Osorio became Panama’s new education minister on Thursday, August 13, filling a vacancy created by the sudden resignation of Lucy Molinar. President José Raúl Mulino swore in the industrial engineer during a ceremony that handed control of the Ministry of Education to a public official whose career has moved through transit management, comptroller administration and political campaigning. Swearing-In of the New Education Minister Before accepting the education portfolio, Vega Osorio served as secretary general of the Comptroller General’s Office, a position he had held since January 2025. His promotion to the cabinet came quickly after Molinar’s departure left…
A second suspected war recruitment agent was ordered held in provisional detention Tuesday as Panamanian authorities expanded their criminal investigation into citizens being sent to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. The man was arrested during a coordinated operation by the Second Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime and the National Police. He was then presented before a judge at the accusatory criminal system in Plaza Ágora, where prosecutors charged him with the presumed crime of human trafficking. Panama Expands War Recruitment Agent Investigation The Public Ministry now manages six open investigations linked to the recruitment of Panamanians for combat abroad.…
Lucy Molinar announced her education minister resignation on Wednesday, ending her second stint as head of Panama’s Ministry of Education after 25 months. She said the controversy surrounding a computer procurement program had generated too much noise, and stepping aside would give investigators room to clarify the process. Molinar met with President José Raúl Mulino before making her decision public. Reasons Behind the Education Minister Resignation Flanked by regional education directors, Molinar framed her departure as a personal choice rather than the result of an internal government conflict. She acknowledged that public discussion of the computer purchases had become a…
A blunt warning from one of Panama’s most prominent pediatric infectious disease specialists has pushed infant immunization changes into a tense regional spotlight. Dr. Xavier Sáez-Llorens of Hospital del Niño says the new direction from Washington puts children at risk and reflects ideology rather than evidence. Panama’s Ministry of Health, known locally as Minsa, has answered with a clear message that the national vaccination schedule will not change because of decisions made in the United States. The move in question came on August 10, when President Donald Trump’s administration signed an executive order reducing the list of recommended childhood vaccines…