The rampant corruption involving the government and its associates has recently been laid bare by far-reaching allegations made by two renowned international economists. In itself, this should be sufficient grounds to disqualify Panama from hosting an important anti-corruption summit this coming December.
The Panamanian government accepted hosting the seventh International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) last June, allocating one million dollars for the event's organization. The total cost wil reach $1.9 million, with the ministry for the presidency providing the funds.
Immoral
Enrique Montenegro, a representative of the Anti-Corruption front of Panama, denounced 'this unnecessary expense, all the more inappropriate given the degree of corruption that permeates the government and society at large'.
Mr. Montenegro recounted participating in a similar conference in Lima, Peru, which was highly criticized for the simple reason of being hosted by then president Alberto Fujimori and his controversial adviser Vladimiro Montesino.
He fears that, given Panama's beaten up image internationally in the wake of the Panama papers scandal, hosting the conference could be counterproductive.
Last week’s very public criticism of the Panamanian government's 'lack of transparency' by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and of his fellow committee member Mark Pieth, further damaged Panama’s international standing.
The Panamanian government has been hit by the public resignation of these two respected international economists as if by a boomerang. It had appointed them to an “independent commission” charged with investigating the practices of the local financial system amid much fanfare, in an effort to clean up the image of the country following the Panama papers scandal.
Fast forward four months, during which nothing was heard, and Mr. Stiglitz surprised everyone by publicly announcing his resignation. In public declarations, he accused the Panamanian government of attempting to censor the commission's report.
Local economist Juan Jovane did not conceal his indignation at the actions of Varela's government: 'the very people that were supposed to lend us credibility have by contrast confirmed to the whole world the existence of corruption in Panama", he thundered.
Mr. Jovane accused the government of providing "yet another example" of corruption scandals that have directly involved it and that are far from being solved. Others include the misappropriation of public funds at Miviot, Tocumen S.A., the education ministry, to name but a few.
