In November of 1906, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and his wife traveled to Panama for a three-day inspection of Panama Canal construction. This marked the first time any American President had left the United States while President. The Roosevelts stayed at the El Tivoli Hotel on Ancon Hill. Completed just a month earlier, the hotel was built...
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Yesterday morning, as the owner of Novedades Elia arrived to her store on Chorrera’s Avenue of the Americas, Boris Alberto Chavez surprised her and robbed her of two bags. Units of the Motorized Preventive Service pursued him to the Vega neighborhood where Chavez threw himself from the sedan brandishing a gun. This did not faze...
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With Carnival less than two weeks away, an official carnival route has yet to be decided, and today brings another chapter in the decision-making saga. First the Carnival Board said the celebrations would take place in Via Espana. The Bella Vista neighborhood residents objected. Then it was reported that it would be along Via Espana...
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Since Wednesday, the Darien Province has been even more off limits than usual due to the possibility of Colombian guerrilla retaliation. The fear is that members of the FARC will exact retribution for this week’s killing of three of their members. According to reports, the Panamanian National Border Service surprised the guerillas paddling on the...
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The annual National Orange Festival began this evening with the participation of more than 30 artisanal farms and some 50 public and private entities. The Minister of Agricultural Development and the queen of Cocle’s products and crafts, Erica Duran, were on hand to inaugurate the events. The Orange Festival was the 1981 brainchild of a group...
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The National Assembly is backing President Martinelli’s push to control media output through the reactivation of an advisory board that would insure television stations regulate their content. The Assembly’s Population, Environment and Development Commission’s resolution also calls for the media to modify transmission schedules of programs with high violence and sex content, as well as...
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Ex-President Ernesto Perez Balladeres will bring suit in the Interamerican Human Rights Court against the Panamanian state, which he says has put him in a helpless situation during the investigation into his alleged money laundering. Perez’s lawyer, Guillermina McDonald, says that since the process initiated in November of last year, the competent court has not...
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It looks like former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega will finally travel to France to face money laundering charges, the Associated Press reports. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Noriega’s appeal, based on his POW status, to be returned to Panama after his U.S. sentence. His U.S. sentence ended on September 9, 2007, but he...
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Colombian President Alvara Uribe wants to complete the Panamamerican Highway which stretches from Alaska to Argentina with only a 54-mile gap in the Darien. The Darien Gap lies at the border between Panama and Colombia. It remains one of the most biodiverse tropical regions and one of the most lawless. Alida Spadafora, Executive Direct of the National...
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The Ministry of Economy and Finance reports that 1.3 million tourists entered Panama between January and November of 2009. Originating countries include Colombia, Venezuela, the United States and Ecuador in that order. The report indicates that tourists spent $1,320,000,000, up by $42,000,000 from the previous year. Although the Ministry had forecast more, entries and spending were...
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