Weekly Report - 1 July 2003

US President George Bush has promised Panama's visiting President Mireya Moscoso that he will do all he can to move towards negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement. Bush said he would instruct US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to 'accommodate' Panama. Zoellick will be charged with choosing a model for the negotiations from the current US-Cafta or the recently-concluded FTAs with Singapore or Chile. 

Moscoso has come under pressure for failing to get Panama included in the US-Cafta trade accords being negotiated with the rest of Central America. Panama is keen to narrow a large trade deficit with the US: at some US$1bn, imports from the US are three times the value of Panama's exports to the US. 

The presidential meeting also touched on the security problems on the Panamanian border with Colombia. The Darién border area between Colombia and Panama, a dense expanse of jungle, has gained notoriety over the years as a sanctuary for Farc guerrillas, labelled a terrorist organisation by the US. Moscoso said that she was cooperating with Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe to crack down on incursions into the border area. The two countries recently signed a new pact which aims to foster improved links between the Colombian and Panamanian security forces and to set up a bilateral police working group, which will meet on an annual basis.