Caribbean & Central America
The honeymoon period of President Martín Torrijos was brought to an abrupt end on 12 October when the first significant protest since his inauguration in September broke out. The catalyst for the protest was the mooted privatisation of the social security fund Caja de Seguro Social (CSS).
The march, which attracted some 5,000 people drawn from the ranks of the newly-created Frente Nacional por la Defensa de la Seguridad Social en este Gobierno (a social organisation set up specifically to address the issue) wound around the Bay of Panama to the presidential Palacio de las Garzas. Protesters demanded that the government maintain the CSS in state hands. Their solution to the cavernous deficit in the CSS (some US$2.5bn) is to inject funds raised from the sale of the former US military bases in the Canal Zone into the institution and, if necessary, place bonds on the international markets.
The director of the CSS, René Luciani smiled nicely before dismissing the idea as 'unrealistic'. He also categorically denied that the government was considering privatising the CSS. 'If only the march were based on facts rather than supposition,' he said. The fact is the government has been very vague about its plans for the CSS. Luciani parroted the official mantra: 'We need to look into a range of options that take into account retirement age and the ways in which pensions are calculated,' he said.
It is not all that surprising that the government is stalling on coming up with a plan for sorting out the crisis at the CSS. It is, after all, a politically charged issue. When the previous government moved to make changes by sacking the director, Juan Jované, last October it had a riot on its hands as Panamanians sniffed the scent of privatisation on the air.
Widening the Canal
Small farmers opposed to the widening of the Panama Canal also joined in the march. They claim that the widening of the waterway will flood their arable land, which is situated along its banks.The government appears to be moving ahead with the proposed US$4-5bn expansion of the Canal to accommodate post-Panamax ships. The economy and finance minister, Ricaurte Vásquez said on 1 October that the widening initiative could be submitted to a referendum as early as next year, 'If we don't expand the canal it will become obsolete,' Vásquez said. 'It will lower the capacity of the economy to grow because a significant part is tied to transit levels,' he added.