Author: Sebastian Pieper
Panama’s Ministry of Labor and Development helped more than 4,100 job seekers during a recent recruitment fair for Chiquita Brands. The event was held in the Bocas del Toro Province as the banana industry begins its reactivation there. Labor Minister Jackeline Muñoz described the turnout as a significant new beginning for the region’s economy.The multi-day recruitment drive specifically targeted workers with experience in banana cultivation, harvesting, and packaging. Its primary goal involves restoring more than 5,000 jobs lost when the banana industry previously left the area. This large-scale hiring effort represents a major step in the government’s plan to revitalize…
Panama has formally started the process to recognize bamboo as a new national agricultural commodity. Technical teams from the Ministry of Agricultural Development, producer associations, and the National Bamboo Commission held their first working session on Friday, November 15, in the province of Coclé. This initiative responds to a formal request from the nation’s bamboo industry to grant the plant official production status, a move that could unlock new economic opportunities for rural communities.The newly formed technical table brings together specialists to review the scientific data, requirements, and processes necessary for this official designation. Their work focuses on building a…
A Panamanian court entered its fourth day of hearings Sunday for sixty individuals accused of operating an international drug trafficking network from Tocumen International Airport and various national ports. The extensive proceedings, part of Operations Eros and Colibri, focus on formalizing charges and requesting preventative detention measures against the suspects. This case represents one of the most significant drug trafficking investigations in recent Panamanian history, exposing deep-seated corruption within critical transportation infrastructure. The judicial process resumed Sunday the 16th of November, at 9:00 a.m. in Room No. 1 of the First Judicial Circuit Office located in Plaza Agora. Saturday’s marathon…
Local governments across Panama are confronting a severe financial crisis as the national government withholds a growing portion of critical tax revenue. Mayors and policy experts warn that extreme centralization is crippling municipal abilities to provide essential community services.The alarming trend emerged during a detailed analysis of municipal financing on the “Radar” program. Officials revealed that the percentage of Property Tax revenue transferred to municipalities has plummeted from 93 percent to just 39 percent over a four-year period. This dramatic reduction directly impacts garbage collection, school maintenance, and public infrastructure repairs that residents depend on daily.Shrinking Municipal BudgetsSan Miguelito Mayor…
Panama’s national government has accumulated a massive financial liability stemming from unpaid employee benefits that have gone unresolved for over a decade. The debt for seniority premiums, a legally mandated payment for public sector workers, has been growing silently since 2014. Multiple government ministries now acknowledge obligations totaling tens of millions of dollars owed to thousands of former civil servants.This systemic problem originated from an Executive Decree signed in the final days of the Ricardo Martinelli administration. Executive Decree 52, signed by Martinelli and then-Minister of Labor Alma Cortes just three days before leaving power, regulated laws that established a…
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino signed a new executive decree that establishes strict parameters for strikes in public services. The regulations, enacted on Wednesday, November 12, define which sectors are considered essential and therefore subject to special restrictions on work stoppages. This move immediately sparked a legal challenge from the nation’s largest labor confederation, setting the stage for a significant confrontation over workers’ rights.Executive Decree No. 11 of November 11, 2025, specifically regulates Articles 485, 486, 487, and 488 of the Labor Code. It provides the legal framework for determining which public services qualify as essential, meaning they will operate…
The Municipality of Panama announced the collection of 1.5 tons of solid waste during a major cleanup of the Mocambo River banks. This environmental initiative, carried out on November 14, 2025, mobilized municipal crews and community volunteers to address pollution in a key urban waterway. Officials described the operation as a critical step in the city’s broader sustainability agenda. The collected debris, which included a significant amount of non-biodegradable plastics and household refuse, was diverted from potentially entering the Panama Canal watershed. This effort directly supports the municipality’s ongoing commitment to improving urban sanitation and protecting local ecosystems from contamination.…
A new scientific study reveals that nearly three quarters of people diagnosed with HIV in Panama begin treatment only after the disease has already reached an advanced stage. This critical delay drastically increases their risk of severe complications, opportunistic infections, and death. The research, released in November 2025, exposes deep-seated social and structural inequalities that are hampering the national response to the epidemic, particularly in rural, indigenous, and marginalized urban communities.The study analyzed data from seven public health centers across the country to understand the factors leading to late diagnosis and fatal outcomes. Titled “Sociodemographic and clinical-epidemiological characteristics related to…
Panama President Jose Raul Mulino and First Lady Maricel Cohen de Mulino visited the district of La Pintada in Cocle province on Friday. They supervised a major social services fair featuring the government’s national pet sterilization program alongside health screenings and agricultural support initiatives. The presidential couple toured the grounds of the Justa Moreno de Conte Municipal Palace where the eighteenth “Mission Patitas” event was underway. This high-volume veterinary campaign forms part of the First Lady’s Office social programs. Additional services included the “Love on Wheels” mobile health clinic, vision and hearing screenings, and an interagency collaboration between the Agricultural…
Panamanian patients continue waiting for legal medical cannabis access nearly four years after legislation passed. The Ministry of Health recently announced regulatory changes that could soon place cannabis products on pharmacy shelves, but the absence of an active patient registry prevents actual distribution. Patient advocates acknowledge progress while expressing cautious skepticism about the timeline for meaningful access.Chronic pain patient Enma Pinzon leads the National Federation of Associations of Chronic, Critical and Degenerative Diseases. She emphasizes that medical cannabis represents more than policy discussion for people living with conditions that often respond poorly to conventional treatments. Scientific evidence increasingly supports cannabis…