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¿Wappin? Atypical music for a waterless Carnival Sunday

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Willie Rodríguez, of the Puerto Rican reggae band Cultura Profetica.

¿Wappin? Atypical music for a waterless Carnival Sunday

Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
https://youtu.be/qGaoXAwl9kw

Rage Against the Machine – Killing in the Name
https://youtu.be/SfZGUdcBBLc

Janelle Davidson & Alejandro Lagrotta – Doble Dolor
https://youtu.be/U2EWkDn_Yyg

Olga Tañón & Marco Antonio Solís – Basta Ya
https://youtu.be/zNO_8CA0tSg

Prince Royce – Te Robaré
https://youtu.be/yUAZxs3qY3Y

The Lowrider Band – The World Is a Ghetto
https://youtu.be/rsxFvlbu5Xg

Anónima – Chombo Pa La Tienda
https://youtu.be/-FxOKUgJvTg

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Otherside
https://youtu.be/vOySsnrMMVg

Bonnie Raitt, Aaron Neville & Gregg Allman – Tell It Like It Is
https://youtu.be/6HjCbKnzDzQ

Max Romeo – One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards
https://youtu.be/LAUcTGeqvOw

Cultura Profética – Le Da Igual
https://youtu.be/MIwqNbpG6N0

Bob Marley – No Woman No Cry
https://youtu.be/jGqrvn3q1oo

Bruce Springsteen & Eddie Vedder – Darkness on the Edge of Town
https://youtu.be/9ZZyYFa7slQ

Natalie Maines – Mother
https://youtu.be/hEyvCthYjNk

Hello Seahorse! – Frontera
https://youtu.be/EKryQoWi794

Stevie Wonder at the White House
https://youtu.be/0Ma3Fo34ez4

 

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What Republicans are saying

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“From Moses who killed an Egyptian for abusing his people, to Jesus who died on a cross as a condemned criminal, many of those who operate outside the box and promote love and justice over the current form of government are treated as outcasts and many times murdered.” Nevada State Assemblywoman Shelly Shelton (R – Carson City), on the shooting by police of armed right-wing militia member LaVoy Finicum.

What Republicans are saying

Transcript of the Republican debate in New Hampshire

 

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Bonilla, El Pueblo juzgará a los magistrados

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AyúCarta abierta a H.D. Arrocha

Panamá, 2 de febrero de 2016

Honorable Diputado
JORGE IVÁN ARROCHA
Presidente de la Comisión Permanente de Credenciales, Regla mento, Ética Parlamentaria y Asuntos Judiciales de la Asamblea Nacional
E. S. D.

Señor Presidente:

Declaraciones suyas confirman que algunas de las denuncias contra Magistrados de la Corte Suprema de Justicias, presentadas ante la Asamblea Nacional, han sido archivadas por lustros violán-dose el artículo 160 de la Constitución, aduciéndose supuesto incumplimiento de requisitos formales, inventados por la “Ley”.

Así las cosas, no causan sorpresa sus declaraciones equivocadas, recogidas el 11 de enero de 2016 por La Estrella de Panamá, en un excelente trabajo periodístico del profesional Ismael Gordon Guerrel:

1. “No puedo estar llamando a investigar a un magistrado de la Corte sino hay pruebas”.
2. “No puedo llamar a investigar a un magistrado sino hay elementos de prueba que realmente lo amerite”.
3. “La Constitución es clara. Contra los fallos de los magistrados no hay ningún tipo de recurso y ellos no son responsables por las decisiones que tomen en el ejercicio de sus funciones”.

Al parecer, señor Presidente, usted como otros, no se ha percatado de que lo que activa la función jurisdiccional de la Asamblea Nacional, es la sola presentación de una denuncia “contra el Presidente de la República y los Magistrados de la Corte Suprema de Justicia”, donde el artículo 160 de la Constitución no exige al denunciante que acompañe con su denuncia prueba alguna adelantada, cuya obtención le corresponde a la Asamblea Nacional a partir del inicio de la investigación que debe hacer inmediatamente para determinar si la denuncia da lugar al correspondiente juzgamiento; siendo que la Ley no es instrumento idóneo para ponerle cortapisas a la Constitución, en un afán desmedido según parece de volver ilusorio el derecho de presentar denuncias como autoriza el artículo 160 citado.

Observe, señor Presidente que el artículo 160 de la Constitución no incluye en su texto ninguna remisión a la Ley (v.g. “La Ley reglamentará esta materia”; “dentro de los precisos términos de la ley”; “en forma que establezca la Ley” “la Ley determinará”; “de acuerdo con la Ley”; etc.); porque de su contenido se deduce con claridad que el debido proceso se inicie con la presentación de la denuncia a la que sigue inmediatamente el trámite de investigación determinante de si da lugar o no el juzgamiento de que se trate, sin necesidad de agotar etapas de informe ni de votos de mayoría; es decir, que la Asamblea Nacional no esta facultada para deshacerse de una denuncia por consenso.

Así, las únicas leyes que puede decretar la Asamblea Nacional en esta materia, son aquellas que viabilizan la voluntad del Constituyente de remover de esos altos cargos a las personas infractoras de la Constitución y la Ley de manera expedita, porque la recta conducción del País, para la realización de sus fines y la buena práctica en la administración de justicia: honesta, imparcial, transparente, expedita y confiable, no se logran en manos de posibles delincuentes de cuello blanco que, de paso, habrían faltado a su juramento prestado ante Dios y la Patria de que acatarían la Constitución y las Leyes de la República.

Como usted conoce, el Artículo 160 de la Constitución, establece lo siguiente:

“Artículo 160: Es función judicial de la Asamblea Nacional conocer de las acusaciones o denuncias que se presenten contra el Presidente de la República y los Magistrados de la Corte Suprema de Justicia y juzgarlos, si a ello diere lugar, por actos ejecutados en el ejercicio de sus funciones en perjuicio de libre funcionamiento del poder publico o violatorios de esta Constitución o las leyes”.

Sin embargo , se observa que a pesar de la claridad de los indicadores en este Artículo 160, de cuál es la voluntad del Constituyente de mantener limpia la Corte Suprema de Justicia de infractores de la Constitución con toga de Magistrados, diversas generaciones de legisladores antes y ahora de diputados, por lustros, han pretendido burlarse de la voluntad del Constituyente por medio de veleidades legislativas, con el resultado de que tales infractores siguen impunemente en sus cargos y no obstante de que también conocen que la Ley no es instrumento idóneo para ponerle cortapisas a la Constitución (ver artículo 12 del Código Civil), como viene expresado.

EL Artículo 160 de la Constitución, sabiamente, le ordena a la Asamblea Nacional conocer de las denuncias que se presenten; es decir, de todas, porque no establece que sólo conozca de las denuncias acompañadas de prueba sumaria, de prueba del hecho o de elementos de convicción. Y, precisamente, no lo exige por cuanto la duda la resuelve el Constituyente a favor de los denunciantes, quienes actúan en defensa de la buena marcha del servicio público de administrar el Estado y la Justicia de manera eficiente, honesta, imparcial, transparente, expedita y confiable; y habido cuenta de que el País no necesita en específico a ningún “Presidente” ni “Magistrado”, menos si éste es un infractor de la Constitución y posiblemente un corrupto, cuando su actuación “judicial” conlleve la infamia de un arbitrario despojo de tierras, de dineros, de derechos, etc., como objetivo propio de la corrupción judicial.

Del mismo modo, a la presentación de la denuncia se concreta la obligación de juzgar al denunciado, “si a ello diere lugar”, para lo cual la Asamblea Nacional debe remitirla inmediatamente a la respectiva Comisión Permanente y el Pleno de aquella debe designar el Fiscal del caso, en el entendimiento de que la admisión de la denuncia es obligatoria y no potestativa, sin lo cual no podría determinar “si a ello diere lugar” para juzgarlos. (Artículos 160 y 201 de la Constitución; Artículo 12 del Código Civil), salvo en los casos en que ha cumplido su deber de investigar y así resultare.

En otras palabras, señor Presidente, las denuncias, amén de que legalmente no requieren formalidad ni solemnidad alguna y el denunciante no es parte en el proceso ni está obligado a probar su relato, no requieren tampoco exámenes previos sobre admisión o inadmisibilidad ni de informes ni de ser sometidos a votos de mayoría o consenso. Observe que la Asamblea Nacional no es una «sociedad anónima» ni sus miembros “accionistas”, que pueda decidir en votación y selectivamente cuáles denuncias admite y a cuáles no.

Simplemente, por cumplidas las etapas de presentación de la denuncia y de remisión a la Comisión Permanente que usted Preside, luego de la designación del Fiscal del caso y éste ha finalizado todas las investigaciones en las que debió recabar las pruebas favorables al imputado (v. gr. el hecho no constituye delito; el hecho no se cometió durante el ejercicio de sus funciones; cesó en el cargo; etc.) y las pruebas desfavorables (v.gr. las que sirven para acreditar el hecho punible denunciado y sus circunstancias), siendo permitidas o lícitas, es cuando se inician las votaciones; observándose que aunque las pruebas fueran concluyentes de la culpabilidad del imputado, aun así, la sentencia condenatoria dependerá del dislate de un voto mayoritario y algunas veces del voto por simple simpatía de las dos terceras partes de los miembros de la Asamblea Nacional que, de no obtenerse, el imputado será declarado no culpable. Este dislate legislativo desafía la voluntad constituyente, según el Artículo 160 de la Constitución, porque es como si no lo hubiera juzgado, habiendo dado lugar para ello, según las pruebas.

Ahora bien sus declaraciones recogidas en La Estrella de Panamá de 11 de enero de 2016, no son únicas como dislates. Por ejemplo, si consulta El Panamá América de 23 de noviembre de 2005, se encontrará con lo siguiente:

“El esperado archivo de la denuncia presentada por 18 grupos de la sociedad civil para que se investigara lo actuado por un grupo de Magistrados de la Corte Suprema de Justicia señalados por su colega Adán Arjona como responsables del pronunciamiento de sentencias irregulares merece la repulsa del pueblo panameño.

Argumentar que los denunciantes no son parte afectada por los fallos es un tremendo disparate, habida consideración que los mismos comprometen la credibilidad del máximo tribunal y la buena fe de sus miembros en el recto cumplimiento de sus deberes.

Tampoco es valido que no hay prueba sumaria…………”

Tal como puede apreciar, señor Presidente, esa perversa creatividad para no investigar a Magistrados posiblemente corruptos por la Asamblea Nacional y el cuento de la prueba sumaria, es de antigua data, lo vuelven a usted poco original y que, ayer como hoy, se violaba impunemente el artículo 160 de la Constitución, exigiéndose requisitos constitucionalmente inexistentes e impropios a la naturaleza de una denuncia.

En cuanto a su declaración de que “no puedo llamar a investigar a un Magistrado si no hay elementos de prueba que realmente lo amerite”, no pasa de ser un simple sofisma, porque para llamarse a investigación a un magistrado sólo es necesario que se haya presentada una denuncia, ya que las pruebas las debe recabar inmediatamente después el Fiscal designado por la Asamblea Nacional, a fin de que ésta determine su juzgamiento, “si a ello diere lugar” (artículo 160 de la Constitución y 12 del Código Civil). Y, en materia de denuncias presentadas, tiene usted varias pendientes y otras mal archivadas y que las debe reactivar, para someterlas al trámite correspondiente.

En este estado, le solicito formalmente la reactivación de todas las denuncias archivadas sin la práctica de las investigaciones correspondientes, aduciéndose supuesto incumplimiento de requisitos formales, a pesar de que, como usted sabe, las denuncias al no requerir formalidad ni solemnidad alguna, se entienden admitidas desde su presentación, según lo previsto en el artículo 160 de la Constitución.

También es equívoca y desafortunada su declaración de que “la Constitución es clara contra los fallos de los magistrados no hay ningún tipo de recurso y ellos no son responsables por las decisiones que tomen en el ejercicio de sus funciones”.

Los artículos de la Constitución no se interpretan aisladamente sino uno con otros. Por ejemplo, el artículo 206 se interpreta conjuntamente con el artículo 210 de la Constitución; de modo que, cuando en su actuación los magistrados están sometidos a la Constitución, el resultado es una sentencia y no así, cuando actúan por encima de la Constitución mediante actos violatorios de ésta en que el resultado es un hecho arbitrario y punible. Así ante esa realidad, la Asamblea Nacional no ha cumplido con el deber de la República de Panamá de “desarrollar las posibilidades de recurso judicial” (vg. reconsideración), que permita impugnar la parte motiva de la actuación, siendo ésta el lugar donde se refugian para perpetrar sus malas acciones y hoy no hay manera de atacarla, porque en este supuesto los magistrados no reconocen el recurso de reconsideración. De este modo, al quedar firme la resolución que decide el recurso, entonces sí, se concluye el caso mediante una decisión final, definitiva y obligatoria.

En cuanto al resto de su declaración de que los magistrados de la Corte “no son responsables por las decisiones que tomen en el ejercicio de sus funciones”, sólo tienen el mérito de ser un disparate difícil de superar.

En diversas partes del ordenamiento jurídico se establece que los magistrados de la Corte responden penal, civil y disciplina-riamente, a pesar de la derogación del artículo 200 del Código Judicial. En cambio, usted le confiere licencia, para delinquir impunemente en el despojo de tierras, dineros y derechos que perpetren estos magistrados contra algunos de los desprevenidos usuarios que se vean necesitados a usar semejante sistema “judicial”; en donde, por lo visto usted no es de los que se empeñará en subsanar estas graves irregularidades mediante los ajustes legislativos que se requieran.

(Cfr. En el diario La Prensa de 26 de octubre de 2014, el Magistrado Harry Díaz dio a conocer en denuncia pública que en la Corte Suprema se venden fallos y se archivan expedientes, lo que nunca desmintió, ni él ni nadie y con pruebas. Desde entonces los “fallos de los últimos 10 años de alto perfil, están marcados por la sospecha de ser el producto de una compra venta”, tomándose en cuenta el testimonio de la Jueza ANA ZITA ROWE LÓPEZ, al hacer su análisis introductorio a la Ley 53 de 2015: “ha transcurrido una década desde la crisis de legitimidad de las autoridades judiciales, asociada a las serias denuncias por venta de fallos”. (Ley de Carrera Judicial, Cultural Portobelo, 2015. Pág.9)

Uno de los graves problemas en este País es el de que a los miembros de la Asamblea Nacional no les preocupa dictar leyes que contrarían la letra y el espíritu de la Constitución. Y por ello, no causa extrañeza que hayan “legislado” en el sentido de hacer depender la culpabilidad y condena de un magistrado de la Corte más del voto mayoritario que de las pruebas que lo vinculan con la comisión del hecho punible denunciado.

Es preocupante que, a nivel de la Corte Suprema, la Asamblea Nacional no haya cumplido a cabalidad con sus atribuciones constitucionales, al menos así:

1. En su función legislativa, ha dictado leyes para el fraude procesal, alentando la corrupción judicial.

a. Por ejemplo frente a la admisión o inadmisión arbitrarias, la parte afectada en la formalización de un recurso de casación no tiene defensa, pues, la “ley” establece que la resolución ilegal es irrecurrible. La orden de corrección depende del capricho de los magistrados.

b. El artículo 2568 del Código Judicial patrocina la colusión entre el Pleno de la Corte y el demandante; pues, aunque se trata de una acción pública, las demás personas afectadas o interesadas no pueden intervenir, etc.

2. En su función judicial, se esmera en “legalizar” pretextos, para no enjuiciar a magistrados señalados de ejecutar actos violatorios de la Constitución y de las Leyes de la República.

3. En su función administrativa se dejó arrebatar ciertas funciones trascendentes como las siguientes:

a. La de nombrar comisiones de investigación en cualquier asunto de interés público, como es la mora judicial, con vista a que la separación de poderes no es absoluta y la independencia judicial es sólo para el momento de la toma de decisión.

b. La de citar o requerir a un magistrado de la Corte, con fundamento en que aprobar y ratificar lo hecho por otro, son sinónimos.

Ese desgreño legislativo ha sido aprovechado por algunos magistrados para decidir arbitrariamente, por ejemplo, que un hecho inconstitucional es constitucional¸ que pueden convertir al Tribunal constitucional y antojadizamente en un Tribunal de tercera instancia de la jurisdicción penal o civil; que pueden volver bienes de uso público en bienes de propiedad de particulares; cambiar una doctrina a su conveniencia para favorecer a políticos, empresarios, jueces, etc. “constitucionalizar” partidas circuitales, dar órdenes a la jurisdicción civil, por medio de un recurso de inconstitucionalidad, etc.

Todo esto seguirá igual, señor Presidente hasta tanto el Pueblo logre establecer en la Constitución que el Pueblo juzgará a los diputados y a los magistrados de la Corte mediante el sistema de juicio por jurados; y que el Estado tiene acción imprescriptible para recuperar todos sus bienes que hayan salido indebidamente de su patrimonio; salvo claro está, que la Asamblea Nacional se decida por ejercer plenamente sus funciones constitucionales y en calidad de ser el primer Órgano del Estado, como es.

Atentamente,

HERNÁN A. BONILLA G.
Cédula 4-64-61

El autor es abogado.

 

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Hillary and Bernie on issues that affect Americans living abroad

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HRC BSWhere Hillary and Bernie stand on issues that uniquely affect Americans living abroad

questions posed by Democrats Abroad

FATCA: Would you support the FATCA “Same Country Safe Harbor” for Americans abroad, the regulatory reform that Democrats Abroad recommends for fixing FATCA’s problems but retaining its strength?

Hillary Clinton: I’ve heard loudly and clearly about the burdens that FATCA and other reporting places on Americans living abroad. I understand that this is an extremely important issue – and is creating disruptions in the basic, day-to-day lives of everyday Americans living abroad. I’ve heard that it can be harder to open a bank account, harder to save for retirement, and harder to get a mortgage. I share these concerns — Americans living abroad shouldn’t face excessive burdens in their lives. I know that the vast majority of Americans living abroad are paying their fair share, and we should ease burdens on law abiding Americans living abroad while focusing on the real, true offenders. This is a complex area, and we need to make sure we don’t weaken enforcements against true tax cheats, while making sure we don’t create additional unnecessary burdens. I am committed to working with Americans living abroad and members of Congress to find the right solutions.

Bernie Sanders: Yes. I support the “Same Country Safe Harbor” proposal and I commend Democrats Abroad for its leadership in working on this important initiative. In my view, banking and other financial services provided to overseas Americans should be treated as a local activity.

We need to make it easier for law-abiding Americans living overseas to manage their personal finances and buy a house, while making it harder for tax cheats to hide their money in offshore tax havens to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. I look forward to working with you to turn these goals into action.

The same country exception would ease the burden on overseas Americans — teachers, IT workers, researchers, small business owners, academics, aid workers and stay-at-home parents — and permit the US Treasury to focus on curbing tax avoidance by Americans living inside the United States who move their money to offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes.

Residence Based Taxation: Would you support the replacement of the current system of taxing overseas Americans, known as citizenship-based taxation, with a system of residence-based taxation?

Hillary Clinton: I know that most Americans living abroad are just trying to make a living and provide for their families. I believe that we need a broad discussion about reforming our tax code to cut taxes for hard-working, middle class American families living both here and abroad, and to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. That means, among other things, closing loopholes that allow many hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate than nurses or teachers and supporting proposals like the Buffet Rule. But it also means closing loopholes that create incentives for corporations to ship jobs and profits overseas, and making sure that the wealthiest Americans can’t move overseas to avoid paying taxes. Americans, regardless of where they live, often benefit from American education, infrastructure, legal protections, and trade policies. This is a complicated issue and I will work with Americans living abroad and members of Congress to cut taxes for hardworking, middle class Americans, but also avoid creating any adverse incentives for those looking to avoid contributing their fair share.

Bernie Sanders: This is something that deserves serious consideration. Other than Eritrea, the US is the only country that I am aware of that requires the filing of two annual tax returns to reconcile complex tax codes of different countries.

In my view, we can provide tax relief to middle-class families living overseas, while prohibiting large corporations and the wealthy from avoiding over $100 billion a year in taxes by stashing their cash in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens.

FBAR: Would you support reforms to FBAR regulations to address these concerns and inequities?

Hillary Clinton: As president, I will work with Americans living abroad and members of Congress to examine filing requirements with the aim of avoiding redundancies and minimizing unnecessary paperwork and confusion. Any reforms would also need to be scrutinized to avoid weakening government capacity for monitoring illegal activity or tax avoidance facilitated by holding foreign bank accounts.

Bernie Sanders: Yes, I look forward to working with Democrats abroad to address these concerns and make this system more equitable. As you know the FBAR reporting threshold has not been adjusted for inflation since it was first initiated in the early 1970s. We need to look at that. We also need to look at removing the unnecessary duplication in the reporting requirements between FBAR and FATCA.

I am also sympathetic to the concerns raised by older Americans living abroad with the mandatory online reporting requirements that are now in place.

At a time when this country has an $18.4 trillion national debt and so many unmet needs, I do believe that we need to do everything we can to eliminate tax evasion. I also believe that we should be rewarding, not punishing, middle-class citizens living abroad who are following the rules. In my view, we can and we must accomplish both of those goals.

Medicare portability: Would you support an amendment to the Medicare law permitting American citizens to use Medicare benefits to pay for health care in approved medical facilities located outside the USA?

Hillary Clinton: I’ve fought to protect and strengthen Medicare throughout my career and have continued to press the importance of this lifeline in this campaign. I support further examination of how Americans over 65 living abroad and eligible for Medicare could apply their benefits to care at approved medical facilities located outside the US.

Bernie Sanders: I support a Medicare-for-all single-payer health care plan to make health care a right, not a privilege, for all Americans, including Americans living and working abroad. Instead of spending federal health care dollars on the multi-million dollar salaries of insurance company CEOs, it is time to use this money to guarantee health care to every American citizen.

As you know, retired US military personnel and their dependents living overseas are reimbursed by the US government for most of their medical bills through the TriCare For Life system. In my view, there is no reason why we cannot use the Tricare program as a model for a Medicare delivery program for all Americans living overseas.

HR-3078: Would you support the establishment of a Commission on Americans Abroad to study and propose remedies to US policies that harm or unfairly burden Americans living outside the US (as provided for in House bill HR-3078)?

Hillary Clinton: As president I would support a bipartisan effort to examine how the US government’s laws and executive actions impact US citizens living abroad, like the Commission on Americans Abroad proposed in House bill HR-3078, which is sponsored by Representative Carolyn Maloney, whose endorsement I am honored to have in this campaign.

Bernie Sanders: US citizens living abroad deserve to feel that their country and the officials elected to represent them consider their interests just as they consider the interests of Americans living in the United States. I support the establishment of a Commission on Americans Abroad to examine the impact of federal financial reporting requirements, the ability to vote in US elections, and access to federal programs like Social Security and Medicare for Americans living abroad.

Windfall Eliminations Provision: Would you support the examination of the WEP and its impact on US citizens abroad to establish a remedy that preserves the social security benefits fairly earned by Americans abroad through their US working life?

Hillary Clinton: Americans living abroad, like all hardworking Americans, have a right to the Social Security benefits they have earned when they retire, and I am concerned that the WEP as now designed is not fair to many Americans who have paid into Social Security but see their benefits reduced due to the WEP. That’s why I support further examination of how the WEP impacts American citizens abroad to ensure that they are treated fairly in the Social Security system.

Further, I will fight to expand Social Security for those who need it most and who are treated unfairly today. This includes giving Social Security credit for caregiving and expanding benefits for widows who can now see their benefits fall by as much as 50 percent when a spouse dies. And I will oppose Republican efforts to reduce annual cost-of-living adjustments or raise the retirement age. Finally, to ensure these critical benefits for decades to come, I will ask the highest-income Americans to pay more, including options to tax some of their income above the current Social Security cap, and taxing some of their income not currently taken into account by the Social Security system.

Bernie Sanders: Yes. I have been a strong supporter of repealing the WEP to provide fair and equitable treatment to all workers on Social Security, including our teachers, firefighters, police and other public servants who have contributed into Social Security.

Further, at a time when senior poverty is going up, our job must be to expand benefits, not cut them. I have introduced a plan to increase Social Security benefits by over $1,300 a year for seniors who have income of less than $16,000 a year. My plan also extends the solvency of Social Security for more than 50 years by lifting the cap on taxable income so that the wealthiest 1.5 percent of Americans pays the same percentage of their income into Social Security as everyone else.

FAST Act passport revocation: Would you support, as part of the implementation of the 2015 FAST Act, these requests aimed at preserving the security of Americans abroad and their families?

Hillary Clinton: Every American should pay what they owe under our tax laws. In enforcing those laws, it is also essential to preserve the safety and security of Americans living abroad. Ensuring the security of Americans living abroad was a central part of my job when I served as Secretary of State and, as president, will continue to be of great importance to me. The State Department and any other US government agency must strive to ensure Americans living abroad are provided with timely information and open lines of communication with their government. As public servants, it is our job to look out for the safety of all Americans, including those residing overseas. That is why as president I would make sure that the 2015 FAST Act is implemented fairly and in such a way as to ensure we protect Americans. I will ensure that Americans receive timely and accurate information about their tax responsibilities and are given ample opportunity to remedy or resolve any related issues, within a reasonable timeframe, before a passport is revoked due to a tax delinquency.

Bernie Sanders: support efforts to ensure that Americans living and working abroad have access to information on tax debts and proper notice before the IRS requests that the State Department revoke or deny the renewal of the passports of US citizens. Proper due process provides procedural and legal safeguards that permits an American abroad an opportunity to satisfy tax debts prior to the denial or revocation of a citizen’s passport. I also believe that safeguards should be put in place to protect and preserve the security of Americans living abroad and their families.

Early voting for the March 1 – 8 Democrats Abroad Global Primary is now underway

To join Democrats Abroad — essentially to be registered to vote — click here
If you are a DA member, click here to download your ballot to vote by email
Once you are registered send your email ballot, completed as instructed, to PrimaryVoting@democratsabroad.org
In-person voting will be at the Theatre Guild on March 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Democrats Abroad has same-day voter registration

 

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Vic Brown’s Panama Jazz Festival scenes (4): the free concert finale

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scholars
The main point of the Panama Jazz Festivals: talented young musicians receiving scholarships to continue their studies in sophisticated settings.

Scenes from the Panama Jazz Festival’s Saturday free concert

photos by Victor Brown
piano men
Two piano jazz giants: elder statesman Randy Weston, to whom this year’s festival was dedicated, and festival founder and leader Danilo Pérez Jr.

 
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PJF Sat 4

 
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Harrington, Crisis del agua –esos polvos traen estos lodos

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Los llanos secos de Coclé. Foto por Eric Jackson.

Efecto-demostrativo

por Kevin Harrington-Shelton
Lo pasado es prólogo.
William Shakespeare

Cuando finalmente se pueda escribir la (verdadera) historia de Panamá, habrá de hacerse en términos de oportunidades perdidas — porque no sabemos aprovecharlas.

No siempre fue así. En medio del espíritu de desarrollo sostenible que orientó durante los 1960 don Roberto F. Chiari –“el Presidente de la Dignidad”– sí hubo un héroe anónimo que tuvo una visión de irrigar los Llanos de Coclé y aprovechar la mecanización de la agricultura que para entonces incursionaba en Centroamérica.

Don Roberto Healy Quelquejeu inspiró un Plan de Desarrollo Regional, para recabar aguas en la serranía tras El Copé e irrigar –por gravedad– el área que hoy ocupan equipos que generarán electricidad cosechando el viento. La idea progresó, hasta el punto de atraer la cooperación del Reino Unido en sus detalles técnicos.

Pero sobrevino el golpe de estado del 11 de octubre.

Aquellos militares desleales tanto al estado de derecho como a la voluntad popular expresada en las urnas de 1968, pronto se vieron tan faltos de apoyo (fuera de Washington…), que sucumbieron a los consejos interesados de una izquierda pancista. Y las partidas presupuestarias destinadas a dicho Plan fueron desviadas, hacia el establecimiento de asentamientos campesinos –por razones netamente ideológicas– los que no contaron con la asesoría técnica requerida para su desarrollo sostenible. Como resultado, se malbarataron sus propios proyectos comunitarios, se comieron el capital estatal, y poco después tuvieron que ser abandonados por ese mismo gobierno militar.

Tan sólo se podría especular sobre el efecto-demostrativo que habría tenido ese Plan sobre el resto del agro panameño.

Porque, así como hoy sucede hasta en los barrios menos-privilegiados cuando ún primer vecino instala la primera antena de televisión satelital, al rato estas brotan cual hongos en las demás casas, los viajeros que vieran funcionando dicho sistema de irrigación lo habrían replicado (en la medida de su peculio) en sus propias fincas en otras provincias. Desencadenando ese indomable espíritu emprendedor de nuestros campesinos, el Interior no presentaría un panorama tan desolador.

 

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Ayú Prado’s and Martinelli’s fates hung up over legislative committee power play

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Zulay Rodríguez Lu, the PRD deputy from San Miguelito and disgraced former alternate judge who once functioned as a de facto Supreme Court clerk, claims dibs on all of the files pertaining to the court’s presiding magistrate, José Ayú Prado. Photo from her Facebook page.

Decisions on Ayú Prado’s fate — and maybe Martinelli’s — stalled in committee battle

by Eric Jackson

A nine-judge plenum of the Supreme Court voted in December to order the arrest of former President Ricardo Martinelli. That warrant has yet to be issued and a number of excuses, beginning with a large photocopying job, have been proffered. But sitting atop the court administration is the newly re-elected presiding magistrate, José Ayú Prado. Now that former magistrate Alejandro Moncada Luna is in prison, Ayú Prado is the most complained-about Supreme Court jurist, and all criminal complaints against high court magistrates go through the National Assembly’s Credentials Committee, which last year convicted Moncada Luna and forced the resignation of a second magistrate, Víctor Benavides. Like Moncada Luna, Ayú Prado is a Martinelli appointee who began his days in government service back in Noriega times. One of the allegations against Ayú Prado is that he obstructed justice when he was Martinelli’s attorney general by forcing a key witness to recant her testimony implicating the former president in an international insider stock trading and money laundering scheme. (‘Getcha, wuxtry! Petaquilla Mineralsshares in that gold mine are going up, up, UP!‘)

In April of 2015, after several other cases against Ayú Prado had been dismissed, the Credentials Committee gave the remaining complaints, some of which had been provisionally consolidated, to deputy Zulay Rodríguez to analyze and report on to the committee. On July 1 there was a struggle for control of the National Assembly, with an alliance of the followers of PRD president Benicio Robinson and the Martinelli loyalists among the Cambio Democratico party falling short in a bid for power that set them against dissident members of their own parties and the legislature’s minor party and independent deputies. Rodríguez sided with Robinson and Martinelli. The platform of that failed alliance was to end investigations against Martinelli and his followers and to bring impeachment charges against President Juan Carlos Varela on some pretext or another. Rodríguez remained a member of the Credentials Committee, but part of the legislative minority both in the National Assembly as a whole and on the committee. But she also remained in possession of the committee’s only copies of the Ayú Prado files, and she sat on them.

The situation has become more complicated of late with the filing of several new complaints against magistrates, including new ones against Ayú Prado. Rodríguez is claiming dibs on all Ayú Prado files but committee chair Jorge Iván Arrocha — apparently with the backing of most of the committee — maintains that there is no obligation to assign any file to Rodríguez.

She would put the dispute in a different light. Several of the complaints are about how Ayú Prado allegedly abused his powers by ousting Colon juvenile court judge Domingo Ibarra Esquivel. There were accusations that Ibarra had taken payoffs to let juvenile suspects off, and had made files disappear. But he never got his day in court and some of the documents related to some of the charges are not in the file that the Credentials Committee has. Rodríguez says that she can’t proceed without those documents, but the committee finally imposed a January 30, 2016 deadline for her to report on the cases. A few days before that deadline came and went she made public statements about another matter, Ayú Prado’s order as attorney general to destroy computer files in a case about alleged hacking into the email account of then Minister of the Presidency Jimmy Papadimitriu, suggesting that she would be for proceeding against the presiding magistrate for abuse of authority on that case.

There were suggestions by Rodríguez’s critics that such statements are improper publicity about a matter under investigation. Those are probably not well supported, as there will formally be no investigation unless and until the committee votes to open one. Rodríguez called on the committee to defer to the procedural judgment of Administrative Prosecutor Rigoberto González, a nonstarter because it would mean a committee of the legislative branch ceding some of its constitutional powers to an autonomous agency of the executive branch.

To jaded observers of the Panamanian judicial scene, what’s it really about? It’s about a long established corrupt practice of deep-sixing court cases, and a legislator who was a key judicial operative, a de facto high court clerk at a time when such corrupt practices flourished. The dozens of files of cases frozen in similar fashion by Alejandro Moncada Luna have not yet been addressed, a year after his criminal conviction and ouster. Then there are the circumstances of the legislator’ exit from the judiciary, her removal after a decision to release some Colombian drug suspects and an ensuing controversy in which she told of her partipation in moves to oust fellow legislator Ana Matilde Gómez from the latter’s then position as attorney general. However genuine or fake the professed intentions, Rodríguez is not trusted by her colleagues in a situation where such games might be imported from the courts to the legislature.

There does seem to be some sort of a showdown brewing between the committee and Rodríguez, but by all accounts this will have to wait until at least the week after Carnival.

 

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Dry times

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At the community faucet in El Bajito. Photo by Eric Jackson.

Dry times

by Eric Jackson

Carnival, traditionally a time of heavy water usage, approaches with much of Panama in the grip of a profound water crisis. There is an El Niño effect ongoing worldwide — they measure such things by the water temperature in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — and the hotter planetary temperatures can have widely varying effects in the local climates of different places. In most of Panama it’s a drought.

In the Panama metro area, San Miguelilto’s mayor, Gerald Cumberbatch — an Evangelical reverend who can be reasonably suspected of not much liking drunken Carnival revelry for starters — has proposed a ban on culecos. It’s a mere suggestion but it’s causing a firestorm of debate.

In Colon province’s Nueva Providencia — close enough to Gatun Lake to draw water from there, except that the Panama Canal Authority jealously guards the liquid that’s essential for the canal’s operation — neighbors without water have taken their protest to the Transisitmica. They have elicited a call for patience from the Varela administration, which says that it’s in the process of tripling the capacity of the Sabanitas plant from which the community gets its potable water.

On the Azuero Peninsula, the dryest part of Panama in ordinary times, cattle are dying and people are moving out. Some 70 percent of the wells have gone dry, and a Ministry of Agricultural Development program to drill new, deeper wells is finding no water in nearly one-third of the holes it drills. The town of Las Tablas in the heart of the Azuereo is the traditional center of Carnival festivities, which use a lot of water for the cistern cars in the culecos that spray water on daytime revelers. Talk of canceling Carnival, or at least banning culecos, is a political nonstarter because of the party’s economic importance to Panamanian tourism, both national and international. (If you care to take a conspiratorial view of things, you might start by noting that Carnival is also of great importance to President Varela’s family business, which distills the Ron Abuelo and Seco Herrerano that are consumed in mass quantities over the five-day celebration.) Panamanians are neither so carefree nor party spirited that culecos in the middle of an area that’s dying of thirst goes without critical comment, and the government has responded by stepping up its rural well drilling in the region and by restricting water usage for the culecos and barring the cistern cars from drawing water for several of the very low rivers from which towns drink.

In Chiriqui existing water problems created by human activity — hydroelectric dams that in the scheme of Panama’s energy needs make little sense but as businesses get international carbon bond revenue and seek to cash in on real estate development around artificial lakes — are aggravated by the drought. In that province authorities have called for restraint in water usage but have left the Chiriqui, Escarrea y San Felix rivers open to the cistern cars for the culecos without specific restrictions.

Panama Oeste’s population centers of Arraijan and La Chorrera have water problems that are more often created by crumbling infrastructures that are inadequate to handle the ongoing urban sprawl than they are by supply shortages. Crossing over the ridge under Cerro Campana one gets to the eastern end of Panama’s Dry Arc that runs along the western littoral of the Gulf of Panama. The water shortages are more often of natural origin there. Panama Oeste’s main Carnival locale, Capira, has reduced culecos from last year’s 10 to six this time, forbidden the cistern cars’ refills over the course of a day and restricted culeco hours to between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The next province over, Cocle, is severely hit. The water parade that’s the center of Carnival revelry in Penonome is still on, but the Zarati River on which it is held is very low and had to be dammed upstream from the Carnival site to make it deep enough for the city’s drinking water intake to function. Water can only be drawn for culecos in three of the province’s rivers — 14 cistern cars per day from the Zarati River in Penonome, 14 from the Chico River in Nata and 13 per day from the Rio Grande to supply festivities in El Valle, Rio Hato and Anton. Most of the province’s creeks have been dry since December and now many of the larger rivers are dry or down to a trickle. Several of the province’s rural aqueducts, both those that take surface water and those fed by wells, are in serious crisis. It’s likely to affect Carnival tourism as people in the city may decide not to escape to their cottages in the Interior at which there is no water. The problem with a number of the rural aqueducts is that these are jury-rigged contraptions that have not been expanded to deal with growing populations that depend on them, such that they may keep water coming to areas along their principal mains but no longer have pressure to get water out to neighborhoods at the ends of their lines. One can get into some interesting social, historical and political analyses about that, but meanwhile some people are leaving waterless areas to stay with family or friends who do have running water, while others are adjusting their lifestyles to include the hauling of water from community spigots as part of their daily routines.

 

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Parched Cocle. Photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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A tweet from the mayor of Capira that a lot of local business owners surely did not want to see.

 

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Culecos of Carnival past, in Panama Oeste. Archive photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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When so many people in Anton’s corregimiento of Juan Diaz have complaints about no water, the representante has made himself scarce. It has become so notorious that even the symbol of Panama and its government, the national flag, is not being raised in front of the corregiduria during the day on business days as is the long-standing tradition. Photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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The corregiduria, however, still affords a shady spot for a dog to rest. The drought has been a special hardship for dogs and cats who might otherwise drink from streams, or have bowls of fresh water left out for them by kindly neighbors who now no longer have water themselves. Photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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Around back, the corregiduria is one of those public spaces where somebody with a horse whose own property is overgrazed can tie up his or her steed for a dry season meal — until that resource is exhausted for the season and another spot must be found. Photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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It’s HOT out there in the middle of the Pacific. Composite infrared satellite image by NASA/JPL.

 

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Meanwhile, filling containers large and small at a community faucet and lugging the water home has become a way of life for an increasing number of Panamanians. Photo by Eric Jackson.

 

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The Panama News blog links, February 1, 2016

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The Panama News blog links, February 1, 2016

AJOT, Quijano on the canal expansion

ANP, Por cuarta vez se posterga fecha de inauguración para ampliación del canal

JOC, Delays and construction glitches to bust PanCanal expansion budget

TVN, Rechazan reclamo de GUPC a la ACP y reducen aspiraciones en otro

Hellenic Shipping News, New PanCanal tanker deck cooling rules

Splash 24/7, AMP investigates sinking of cargo vessel off Panama

The Straits Times, Chinpo fined $180K over illegal arms case

Hellenic Shipping News, Can Egypt dredge up support for the new Suez Canal?

Havana Times, Poll shows declining expectations on a Nicaragua Canal

Travel Weekly, Elegance and adventure on Northwest Passage cruise

JOC, US West Coast expects to hold market share despite PanCanal expansion

La Estrella: $1 millón, único pago de PPC en 18 años

Port Technology, Container trade rates to decline in 2016

Miami Herald, 2016 will see a bonanza of new cruise ships

BBC, Experts try to rescue stricken RP-flag freighter

Lloyd’s List, Panama raises ballast water rules concerns

Slowtwitch, Sanders and Haskins win Panama Ironman race

MLSoccer, Roberto Chen moving from Malaga to USA?

ABC, Ryan Armour wins Panama Claro golf tournament

WaterWorld, $50 million EIB loan to expand metro area sewage treatment

La Estrella, Lista de GAFI impactó el sector bancario del país

NASDAQ, Scotiabank buy Citi assets in Panama and Costa Rica

AFP, Mi Bus ya está en manos del estado panameño

ALAI, CELAC: regional financial actions in the face of the crisis

Ugarteche & Luna, The yuan’s conversion into an international reserve currency

AFP: Sí, así de sencillo es lavar dinero en EEUU

World Bank, Lower 2016 projections for 37 of 46 commodities

Latin American Herald Tribune, Panama’s corn fields dry up under blazing sun

Telemetro, Ríos secos y escasez de agua en Azuero

Undercurrent, Eastern Pacific tuna catches up

E&N, Energía eólica paliará efecto de ‘El Niño’ en Panamá

The New York Times, WHO declares Zika emergency

Xinhua, 42 Zika cases in Guna Yala

BBC, The imminent death of the Cavendish banana

STRI, Smithsonian botanist discovers new ground-flowering plant in Panama

Discovery News, Elusive bush dogs caught on camera in Panama

Mongabay, Half of China’s land vertebrates disappeared in 40 years

Foreign Policy, The espionage economy

The Guardian: Afghan military will need help ‘for years’, says US general

Tass, Panama ratifies mutual extradition treaty with Russia

TeleSur, Truth commission investigating 1989 invasion

Remezcla, Cinema Tropical awards for 2015

Catholic Culture, Panama’s bishops lament moral crisis

Gandásegui, La descomposición del sistema político panameño

Beluche, Reformas electorales: ni muy muy, ni tan tan

Bernal, Renovemos la esperanza

Blades, Will Smith’s Oscars boycott

Boff, The society of tiredness and dejection

Eyes on Trade, Actual text of TPP study vs press hype about it

Fischer, Welcome to the Twenty-First Century

Weisbrot, Haiti’s black votes don’t matter for Washington

 

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Wendy Reaman’s scenes from the 2016 Orange Fair

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Traditional crafts and materials to depict Cocle’s modernized airport in Rio Hato.

Scenes from the 2016 Orange Fair

photos from Churuquita Grande by Wendy Reaman

 
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Among this year’s new attractions was a dentist.

 

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