LatinNews Daily - 18 February 2019

* Ricaurte Vásquez has been appointed as the new Panama Canal administrator by the Panama Canal board of directors. Vásquez will succeed current director Jorge Luis Quijano on 4 September and will remain in office for the next seven years. Vásquez previously worked as finance director of the Panama Canal (1996-2000), deputy administrator (2000-2004) and, most recently, minister for Canal affairs and chairman of the Panama Canal board of directors (2004-2006), playing a role in the first steps towards the Panama Canal expansion programme. As the waterway approaches 20 years under Panamanian administration, Vásquez will become the fourth administrator in its history.