The Panama - US Free Trade Agreement and Ricardo Martinelli
By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Obviously, the one feather Martin Torrijos was never able to stick in his cap was the ratification of the bilateral free trade agreement between the United States and Panama. Yesterday, among all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the inauguration of Ricardo Martinelli, I heard a few interesting comments. For example, according to the new Minister of Commerce and Industry (MICI), Roberto Henríquez, the ball is firmly in the court of the US congress to pass the agreement as signed. "Here in Panama we have already signed and ratified the agreement, it's now up to the US congress to vote on and ratify the agreement as signed." That's a pretty clear message. In other words, you can forget about any kind of a renegotiation or tweaking of the agreement, either pass it as it is or forget it. There might be some token tinkering, but I don't see Panama caving in on any of the really significant issues regarding offshore accounts, bearer share companies, or banking secrecy.
Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.
