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Central America

Audit Exposes Major Breaches in Panama Canal Port Concession, $300 Million Owed to State

The Comptroller General of Panama, Anel Flores, stated on Monday that the audit initiated last January on the Chinese company CK Hutchison’s subsidiary, which operates two ports around the Panama Canal, has revealed a series of breaches of contract, a multi-million dollar debt with the State, and irregularities in the automatic renewal of the concession.

“More than 300 million (dollars) are owed to us due to breaches in the contract,” Flores said, referring to Panama Ports Company (PPC), which operates the Balboa and Cristóbal ports located at the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the Canal, respectively.

PPC has managed Balboa and Cristóbal, two of the five ports around the Canal, since 1997, when it was granted a 25-year concession contract that was automatically extended for another 25 years in June 2021, amid accusations of alleged corruption and unfavorable conditions for the Panamanian State, which holds a 10% stake.

In a press conference surrounded by auditors, the comptroller made a lengthy list of the unfavorable results for the Panamanian State from a modification to the concession conditions made in 2002, during the government of Mireya Moscoso (1999-2004).

These changes, which among other things eliminated a 22 million-dollar annual fee to the treasury, left the State with a fee based on container entries and included a series of tax exemptions, allowing the treasury to lose “about 1.2 billion dollars over two decades, at a rate of 55 million dollars per year.”

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“This situation is not the company’s fault,” Flores said, “but rather the fault of some ‘bad Panamanians’ who negotiated the concession contract very poorly.”

The automatic renewal of the PPC concession approved by the Board of Directors of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) “did not meet all the legal requirements and also lacks the endorsement of the General Comptroller’s Office,” something the law mandates, Flores emphasized.

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Central America

Spanish Ex-Congresswoman Calls for ‘Bukele-Style’ Security Policies in Europe

Spanish lawyer and former congresswoman Macarena Olona believes that Europe’s decline in public safety can be reversed by adopting anti-gang policies similar to those implemented by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

“Historic. The U.S. State Department has given El Salvador its highest travel rating, Level 1. Spain is at Level 2, considered a higher risk to travelers’ safety. Europe will only stop its decline by following models that have proven effective: Bukele’s security model,” Olona posted on social media.

Spanish newspaper Marca echoed Olona’s remarks, highlighting in an online article that “the arrival of Nayib Bukele to the presidency of El Salvador in 2019 changed the country forever.” That year, the president unveiled his anti-gang strategy.

“Thanks to the Territorial Control Plan, Bukele’s government arrested over 84,000 suspected gang members, driving violence in the country down to record lows,” Marca added.

Three years later, in response to a spike in homicides in March 2022, Bukele’s administration invoked a constitutional state of emergency to intensify the crackdown on criminal groups. The government also built the Terrorism Confinement Center, a high-security prison to hold thousands of inmates.

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International

Two fans killed in gate collapse outside Chile’s Estadio Monumental

Two people lost their lives near the Estadio Monumental in Santiago, Chile, following a chaotic incident that occurred before the Copa Libertadores match between Colo Colo and Brazil’s Fortaleza on April 10. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the victims were crushed after a fence on the stadium perimeter collapsed, though authorities are investigating whether a police armored vehicle may have played a role.

It was a black Thursday at Chile’s Estadio Monumental. Two local fans died outside the stadium after a yet-unclarified incident caused a metal gate to fall on them, leading to fatal asphyxiation.

Local media reports indicate that a group of fans attempted to force their way into the stadium before kickoff. In response, local police allegedly deployed armored vehicles to block the breach.

Preliminary reports cited by local newspapers and news agencies like EFE identify the victims as two young individuals—one 18 years old and the other just 13.

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Central America

Nicaragua seeks ICJ intervention in Gaza conflict amid escalating violations

The Government of Nicaragua announced on Thursday that it has once again requested the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of the United Nations to intervene “as part” of the legal proceedings initiated by South Africa against Israel, accusing it of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention with its ongoing war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, following an attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli territory.

In a statement, the Nicaraguan government, led by Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, explained that on April 1, they had decided to discontinue the proceedings filed with the ICJ related to the “severe violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and state,” due to the “high financial cost” involved for a developing country like Nicaragua, which faces significant economic restrictions.

“However, in the last week, there has been an escalation in violations against the Palestinian people and even against international humanitarian services, clearly revealing Israel’s disregard for all international law norms and the total complicity, particularly of some Western countries, which have decided to continue their political, economic, and military support for those responsible for these crimes,” stated the Nicaraguan government.

In light of this, the government continued, and “making a great effort, Nicaragua has decided to notify the International Court of Justice that it wishes to continue with the legal proceedings regarding the violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.”

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