Central America
Maribel Gordón, the leftist economist who aspires to the Executive of Panama with a feminist plan
The leftist Maribel Gordón, a professor and economist by profession, aspires to the Presidency of Panama in the elections of next May 5 with a government plan based on social proposals for a “dignified life”, being the only candidate with a plan focused on equality policies.
“That is our approach, which incorporates women in decision-making and my main proposal is a national budget with a gender perspective,” he said in an interview with EFE Gordón, an independent candidate and who is among the last places in all the polls, which he does not recognize and in which he borders on 2% of voting intention.
In the opinion of the candidate, the State approves “dead (and) empty laws” with a gender focus, because they do not have sufficient resources to put them into practice, they only serve to wash the international image, “without any responsibility or will to be executed.”
Gordón, 62 years old and popularly known as ‘La Profe’, is the only candidate with openly socialist ideas and supported by the feminist movement of the Central American country by having a public discourse against sexist violence and equality gaps.
She considered herself part of the feminist revolution from a very early age, when it was still officially chosen who represented the movement. “I joined a group of 14 women who carry out these flags because the gender inequality gaps in Panama are deep.”
He explained that in the country there are “low wages” for women because they are “placed in economic activities where the minimum wage predominates” because “the system does not generate decent employment for women.”
“We are also proposing an institutional policy that guarantees the elimination of violence against women (because) violence begins from the institutional with a State that does not protect and that thinks that if a woman or a teenager is raped is something common or private life,” he said.
The presidential candidate has a long history within the social movements in Panama. He jumped to the public spotlight in the protests against the increase in the price of life in 2021. The prices of gasoline and other commodities skyrocketed due to global inflation.
His interventions – as if he were teaching a university class – during a frustrated dialogue table between the Government and the demonstrations to seek a solution were popularly applauded, thus forging his candidacy with the participation in last year’s anti-mining protests, before which he maintains his resounding “no” to mining in the country.
This is the third time that Gordon tries to reach the spheres of the Executive Power. The previous two times –2014 and 2019 – she was a running mate with the leftist Frente Amplio por la Democracia (FAD). The political arm of the most powerful union in the country and the one that its spectacular failure in the last elections dissolved the party.
Gordón is related to the socio-political movements of the Latin American left. A reflection of this is his Government project baptized as the ‘plan for a dignified life’, which is based on “human well-being”, “real democracy”, the “rescue of identity” and a constitutional reform through the constituent route, one of the two options that the current Magna Carta allows.
“If the left is a failure, why are there economic sanctions against those left-wing countries? (…) (For) the fear of a system that effectively works without blockades (…), at least, on issues of national and social development,” says Gordón.
Thus, he proposes to create in Panama, a country “with its specific characteristics,” a project of “national and social development, that is of the Panamanians and Panamanians for the Panamanians” to which some “examples of other latitudes” can be incorporated.
He also defends that socialism, “that phase of transition between capitalism and communism” that adapts to every historical moment, has tried to “develop” in different ways, so the governments in China, Cuba and Venezuela as well as what “tried to do in Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, even today in Colombia and Uruguay” are not alike.
For the elections on May 5, just over 3 million Panamanians are called to the polls.
The main candidates are José Raúl Mulino, the running mate of the disabled former President Ricardo Martinelli, for the Realizing Goals (RM) and Alianza parties. Former President Martín Torrijos (2004-2009), for the Popular Party (PP) and Ricardo Lombana for the Otro Camino Movement.
Central America
Mulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino reiterated on Thursday that the Darién region is “the other border” of the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump must understand this, given his announcement to toughen U.S. immigration policy.
“And I repeat what I have said: he (Trump) must know that his other border, the U.S. border, is in Darién, and we need to begin solving this issue bilaterally or together with a group of countries that contribute people to the migratory flow,” Mulino stated during his weekly press conference.
The Panamanian leader added that the United States “needs to be more aware that this (the flow of irregular migrants through Darién) is their problem. These people are not coming to stay in Panama… they want to go to the United States for whatever reasons they may have.”
In 2023, more than 520,000 irregular migrants crossed the Darién jungle into Panama, a historic figure. This year, the flow has decreased, with more than 281,000 travelers making the journey by October 31, mostly Venezuelans (over 196,000), according to Panama’s National Migration Service.
“Panama is doing what it can,” Mulino said, emphasizing the country’s significant financial investment in security, medical care, and food for migrants. However, he noted, “As long as the crisis in Venezuela persists, all signs point to this continuing, with the human drama that it involves.”
He emphasized that Venezuelans make up the majority of those crossing the jungle, with 69% according to Panamanian statistics, followed by Colombians (6%), Ecuadorians (5%), Chinese (4%), and Haitians (4%). The rest come from over fifty countries worldwide.
On July 1, when Mulino began his five-year term, Panama and the United States signed an agreement under which the U.S. government covers the costs of repatriating migrants who entered through Darién. Under this program, which is funded with $6 million, more than 1,000 people have already been deported, mostly Colombians.
Central America
Ten dead in Panama due to storms causing over $100 million in damages
Ten people have died in Panama due to storms that have caused over $100 million in damages from flooding and infrastructure collapse in the last ten days, President José Raúl Mulino reported on Thursday.
The most affected areas are the western provinces of Chiriquí, which borders Costa Rica, Veraguas, and the indigenous Ngäbe Buglé comarca, due to heavy rains that have been falling for more than ten days.
During his weekly press conference, Mulino initially stated that the storm had caused five deaths, but this was immediately corrected by the director of the National Civil Protection Service (Sinaproc), Omar Smith, who confirmed that the number of deaths had risen to ten.
“What worries me are the human lives, I think we had five (deaths), how many? Ten already? Imagine that,” Mulino said.
Last year, Panama experienced a drought that led to reduced traffic through the interoceanic canal, which operates on fresh water, but the situation began to normalize this year with the onset of the rainy season, which has been abundant since May.
The president announced that the government will declare a state of emergency for the affected areas, where rivers have overflowed, homes have been damaged, landslides have occurred, roads have collapsed, and crops have been lost.
“Based on the reports I’ve received, the damage is significant,” Mulino noted.
Central America
Bukele urges Costa Rica to reform prison system amid rising crime rates
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, recommended that Costa Rica toughen its prison system, describing it as too “permissive” after visiting a Costa Rican prison with his counterpart, Rodrigo Chaves, on Tuesday at the end of an official visit.
“We believe the prison system should be less permissive, focusing more on the rights of those outside and a country’s right to security,” Bukele said after touring the La Reforma prison, located 23 km east of San José.
During Bukele’s visit to Costa Rica, the two presidents discussed different security approaches and strategies to combat organized crime. They also signed memorandums of understanding on tourism, trade, and bilateral relations.
Bukele noted the contrasts between Costa Rica’s prison system and that of El Salvador, which he reformed as part of his “war” against gangs launched in March 2022 under a state of emergency allowing arrests without warrants.
The Salvadoran president pointed out Costa Rica’s high cost per inmate, which he estimated at around $1,200 per month.
“They are spending nearly two minimum wages per inmate. It’s an injustice,” Bukele stated, adding that Costa Rica’s penal system “needs reform.”
Regarding inmate rights, Bukele suggested limiting intimate visits and TV access to prevent prisons from becoming “headquarters for crime.”
“We hope you take the necessary measures,” Bukele said about the increase in crime in Costa Rica, which has seen 757 homicides in 2024, mostly related to drug trafficking.
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