Security & Strategic Review - December 2024

At the end of October Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino energetically rejected the Netherlands’ continued inclusion of Panama on its blacklist of tax havens. Mulino’s ire follows recent efforts by his government to lobby for the European Union (EU) to remove Panama from what it dubs “discriminatory financial lists” – a key priority for the Mulino administration which took office in July. Efforts to improve Panama’s image have assumed increased importance following the loss of investment grade earlier this year due to the 2023 closure of the massive Cobre Panamá cooper mine in response to major unrest over the approval of a new contract, since struck down by the supreme court (CSJ) [EB-24-08].