Author: Sebastian Pieper
The National Assembly’s Budget Committee approved a $1.2 million transfer on Tuesday to cover overdue per diems for 31 Panamanian diplomats scattered across the globe. The vote, But, quickly morphed into a public grilling about the worldwide nepotism of Panama diplomats and whether the country’s far-flung embassies generate anything beyond hefty paychecks for politically connected envoys. A Budget Shortfall Leaves 31 Envoys Unpaid The money plugged a hole that opened when the Foreign Ministry’s personnel budget was slashed during the 2026 budget debate. Carlos Guevara Mann, the vice minister for multilateral affairs and cooperation, told lawmakers the ministry had requested…
More than 500 licensed taxi operators in central Panama brought their frustrations directly to regulators this week, staging a caravan through Santiago and amplifying calls that have echoed from the capital to the interior provinces. The Veraguas taxi protest crystallized months of simmering tension as drivers representing four local organizations descended on the Land Transit and Transportation Authority (ATTT) offices, armed with a formal petition demanding immediate action against digital ride-hailing platforms they call an existential threat to their livelihoods. Veraguas Taxi Protest and the Battle for regulatory fairness The organized caravan snaked through Santiago’s streets Thursday morning before converging…
The volume of AI cyberattacks Panama is confronting has surged by staggering multiples, transforming the country’s status as a global financial center into a high-stakes digital battleground. During all of 2025, security systems tracked around 45 billion attempted breaches, but in just the first six months of 2026 that figure already topped 1.9 billion, signaling an acceleration that experts describe as exponential rather than linear. These numbers serve as a sharp reminder that the same tools businesses use to automate and innovate are now being aggressively weaponized by cybercriminals operating with unprecedented speed and sophistication. The Anatomy of AI Cyberattacks…
When a ship drops anchor in the wrong spot off Panama’s coast, it can do more than scratch the seabed. It can sever a fiber-optic thread no wider than a garden hose, instantly degrading internet speeds across entire countries. That vulnerability sits at the heart of a new push to attract and protect submarine cable investment in one of the world’s most strategic digital crossroads. With global spending on underwater cable systems projected to reach $16 billion between 2026 and 2029, Panama is racing to upgrade its safeguards while chasing a piece of that historic financial wave. Few places on Earth…
At Parque de Santa Ana (Santa Ana Park), a modest ceremony unfolded that could reshape how thousands of informal sellers operate across the capital. Mayor Mayer Mizrachi handed a laminated identification card and an official sticker to a local microentrepreneur, launching the Panama street vendors program known as Microempresarios 2.0. The city expects the phased initiative to eventually cover more than 1,800 registered sellers who already appear in its digital census, giving them regulated spaces, fixed schedules, and the documentation needed to leave precarious informality behind. A New Chapter for Street Vending in Panama City Street commerce has long been…
The iconic black and yellow shield disappeared from the Oceania Business Center this week, and for anyone watching Punta Pacífica’s skyline, the missing prancing horse said more than a thousand press releases. Workers quietly took down the Ferrari signage, and with it, Panama’s official link to the Italian marque came to an abrupt end. The Ferrari Panama exit is now complete, and behind the simple act of removing a logo lies a tangled story of cross-border loans, a contested share transfer and the unsettling shadow of a Salvadoran entrepreneur flagged by the United States. How a Loan Default Led to…
The capital’s upcoming Christmas season will see a sweeping display of Panama holiday lights across dozens of public spaces after the municipality signed off on a B/.3,299,893.00 contract with a single bidder. The agreement, formalized in late July 2026, hands responsibility for the full design, installation and upkeep of the festive illumination to DISAROCA GROUP, S.A., the only company that submitted a proposal for the tender. While the lack of competition in a multi‑million‑dollar procurement often raises eyebrows, the evaluation committee gave the firm a perfect score of 100 points, clearing the way for one of the largest holiday lighting…
Drivers who rely on the bustling South Corridor toll road in Panama City received a last-minute reprieve this weekend after ENA Sur, S.A. abruptly canceled a planned South Corridor road closure that was set to begin late Saturday night. The decision kept the vital coastal artery fully open in both directions, sparing thousands of motorists from a lengthy detour during peak weekend hours. South Corridor Road Closure Called Off Hours Before Scheduled Start The original plan would have shut down the stretch between Paitilla and Costa del Este from 11:00 p.m. Saturday, August 1, until 3:00 p.m. Sunday, August 2.…
A 42-day-old infant and an 85-year-old adult. These two extremes in Panama’s latest respiratory disease data bookend a grim reality: an RSV outbreak in Panama has already killed 13 people this year, and Risks children under five as its primary target. Health authorities have confirmed that 12 of those deaths, representing a staggering 92.3 percent, occurred in this young age group, pushing the country’s epidemiological alert system well past its normal thresholds. Infants Under Two Most at Risk in RSV Outbreak Panama The virus does not strike all children equally. Epidemiology officials from the Ministry of Health detailed that eight…
Eastern Panama City has long struggled with a shortage of green spaces, a reality that municipal planners are now tackling head on. At the center of that effort sits a planned Tocumen recreation park, a two-hectare project that cleared a key hurdle this month when city officials presented the concept to residents in a public hearing. The session, required to tap decentralization funds, marks a decisive step toward transforming a deteriorated patch of land near the country’s busiest airport into a vibrant community hub. A Chronic Shortage of Green Spaces in Eastern Panama Informal, unplanned growth has reshaped the eastern…