With his usual unhurried style, President Juan Carlos Varela kept the post of Minister of Security vacant, and at the same time, he appointed a military as Deputy Minister in charge.
Alexis Bethancourt, responsible for the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF), was appointed as Deputy Minister of Security, and until the new Minister´s name is announced, he will be in charge of the Ministry.
Bethancourt graduated from the Colegio Militar de la Nación, in Argentina, and is one of the key persons of the head of the Security Council, Commissioner Rolando López Pérez.
Precisely the actions of Lopez have been criticized because he has turned the Security Council into a political wing of the Government and has drifted from its mission of ensuring public safety.
"Outside of the country they do not trust that Council, because they have lost their north and are using the Council to file complaints against political enemies," said a source linked to the Ministry of Security.
The UAF has played a critical role in the filing processes of those complaints, under the instructions of Bethancourt.
The appointment of this military, who was a member of the National Police for 23 years, confirms the interest of the President to place a military at the head of the Ministry of Security.
"This shows nothing else than confirming the rumors of his intention to keep on militarizing the institutions", indicated lawyer Miguel Antonio Bernal in a previous statement, based on how Varela is leading the country, and the poor results on security he is getting.
Once it was confirmed that Rodolfo Aguilera and Rogelio Donadío would leave the Ministry, rumors emerged that a “uniformed man” could be their replacement, being former Director of the National Service of Borders (Senafront), Fran Ábrego, also mentioned for this post.
For Varela, Bethancourt is a trust officer who helped the Nation out of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
"He has the executive experience in the field needed to strengthen the effective coordination of all security levels and strengthen the implementation of our strategy of security “Mano Firme con Más oportunidades” (More opportunities and a firm had)," he said.
Changes?
Despite the request made by various sectors of the population for a change of Cabinet, President Varela said he feels comfortable with his Ministers of State.
Varela said that what he will do now is to individually interview with each Minister, to carry out an assessment of their work done in the Government.
Varela pointed out that all his ministers have shown a strong vocation and interest to work for the country, including even the Security Minister, Rodolfo Aguilera, who resigned last week, after holding a dispute in the media with Deputy Minister Rogelio Donadío, who also resigned.
During a ceremony held in the west of the country, the President took a question made by a journalist to boost and back up the Minister of Public Works, Ramón Arosemena, one of the Ministers being most criticized and who the population is demanding to also be removed from the Cabinet.
According to Varela, Arosemena has fulfilled his work, by placing the latest tenders of large projects in his action plan, for instance, which have already been uploaded to the Panama Compra website.
