Public safety in danger

    Public security experts agree that the recent designation of the new security minister, Alexis Bethancourt Yau, is unlikely to prove effective in the fight against crime. Mr. Bethancourt's military background has raised concerns regarding his ability to serve the whole country impartially, as well as his effectiveness in his new post. Former government minister Alejandro Perez is amongst those who believe that military men have no place at the Security Ministry: 'when you place an active member of the police force at the front of the security ministry, he's more likely to show loyalty to his own affiliation than to the institution he is heading', he warned. Mr. Perez went on to explain that a civilian is more likely to be able to provide balance in an institution as sensitive as Security Ministry. Aside from being an expert in explosives making, Mr. Bethancourt was a member of the police force for 23 years, and prior to his latest appointment served at the head of the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF) as well as deputy Secretary of the Security Council. The former minister accused the government of appointing figures simply on the basis of their political affiliation: 'these appointments were not made on the basis of their likely effectiveness', he denounced. Mr. Perez went on to predict that the appointment of inappropriate profiles to sensitive positions is likely to result in a further deterioration of public safety in the country. Faced with of widespread criticism, the newly appointed minister defended himself publicly arguing that 'it is not that strange for someone with a military background to serve as security minister'. Former assistant prosecutor Carlos Herrera Moran did not share Mr. Bethancourt's optimism, accusing the newly-appointed minister of starting down the wrong path: "the current public safety policy is a failure". Mr. Moran accused the government of being unable to formulate a strategy that proved effective in lowering crime levels, pointing out how to recent crime wave has hit not only the capital district, but all regions of the country, from east to west. Mr. Moran also highlighted how the Panamanian constitution explicitly proscribes the state from having an army, and yet 'in Panama there exist and authoritarian police', h denounced, adding that 'the current director of the police force, Omar Pinzon, exercises undue influence over President Juan Carlos Varela, when it should be the other way around'. Criticism of the current turn of events at the Security Ministry even came from members of the ruling party. Political veteran Jorge Gamboa Arosemena, who is a member of the Panameñista party, forecast that Mr. Bethancourt was unlikely to be able to do much to improve the dismal record of his predecessors at the security ministry, Rodolfo Aguilera and Rogelio Donadio. “Panamanians will have to endure a further deterioration in public safety and across the board, as a result of the ineffectiveness of the government of Juan Carlos Varela”, he sentenced. Former director of the police force, Rolando Mirones, added his voice to the criticism of this latest appointment by President Juan Carlos Varela, arguing that it was likely to clash with the hierarchical structure of the police force. Yet Mr. Bethancourt was more sanguine in his response, determining that "the security ministry as an institution is more concerned with strategy, so that should not create conflicts with tactical measures taken by the police force'. Others are not sure. Constitutional lawyer Miguel Antonio Bernal was scathing in his condemnation that 'the appointment of military man at the head of the security ministry represents an extremely serious danger'. The Endara Scheme Former government minister Alejandro Perez condemned the current policy adopted by President Juan Carlos Varela as counter to the healthy precedent set by former president Guillermo David Endara Galimany after the American invasion. “This latest appointment has broken with a role that civilians would be in charge of the system, and that the police force would respond to them, and not the other way around. President Varela has set a very bad precedent”, he sentenced.