Newly declassified papers reveal English prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn's role in Panama coup
LONDON (AP) — Previously secret papers declassified Friday revealed that British ballerina Margot Fonteyn was heavily involved in plotting a coup to overthrow Panama's government, detailing how her clandestine political activities both exasperated and amused officials on both sides of the Atlantic. The confidential telegrams and correspondence released by Britain's national archives pieced together a bizarre and sometimes comic account of the attempted coup in the late 1950s, during which the celebrated dancer and her diplomat husband, Roberto Arias, sought Fidel Castro's help in a revolution that failed because of a last-minute blunder. Fonteyn was 39 and an internationally renowned ballerina when she was arrested and briefly detained in a Panama prison on April 20, 1959. A few days earlier she and Arias had set out in a yacht on an apparent fishing holiday, but aiming to gather men and arms for the coup. The papers showed that British officials in London, as well as diplomats in Panama and New York, scrambled to contain the incident, fearing the plot would threaten British relations with the central American country. But they also documented how the officials thought the events were a kind of "slapdash comedy."
"I had to pinch myself several times during her visit to be sure I wasn't dreaming the comic opera story which she unfolded," wrote Foreign Office Minister John Profumo in one of the papers as he described a private meeting with Fonteyn shortly after she was released. Profumo wrote that Fonteyn admitted to him how she and her husband had visited Castro in Cuba and received a pledge of some weapons and men from the leader. "She affirmed that ... Castro was behind this coup. Naturally he now had to disclaim all knowledge," Profumo wrote. He himself later courted controversy. As a Cabinet minister in 1963, he had a liaison with a prostitute who was disclosed to be linked to a Soviet spy.
British ambassador to Panama Ian Henderson was not impressed by Fonteyn's behavior and wrote that he hoped she would "keep away from Panama for a very considerable time." "I do not regard her conduct as fitting in any British subject. ... Her conduct has been highly reprehensible and irresponsible," Henderson wrote in a telegram. The officials believed that although Fonteyn was "involved in the plot up to her neck," she was an amateur revolutionary who viewed the whole situation in a "charmingly lighthearted way." Profumo wrote that Fonteyn described how, as the coup unraveled, she mistakenly dumped some incriminating documents into the sea. Officials later retrieved the items, including Arias' address book, which contained the addresses of actors John Wayne and Errol Flint. The celebrities apparently had business dealings with Arias.
Mark Dunton, a historian at the archives, said the files gave an unusual glimpse into a previously little known chapter of Fonteyn's life. "The extent of Dame Margot's personal involvement has not been in the public domain before," said Dunton. "It adds to the slightly bizarre nature of this attempted revolution." Fonteyn, who was born Peggy Hookham in 1919, went on to reach even greater creative heights through her acclaimed partnership with Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev. She returned to Panama with her husband years later and died there in 1991.
Washington, May 18 (ANI): An extinct giant shark nursery has been discovered in Panama. The six-foot-long babies of the world's biggest shark species, Carcharocles megalodon, frolicked in the warm shallow waters of an ancient shark nursery in what is now Panama, report paleontologists working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Florida. Catalina Pimiento, visiting scientist at STRI and graduate student at the University of Florida, said: "Adult giant sharks, at 60-70 feet in length, faced few predators, but young sharks faced predation from larger sharks. As in several modern shark species, juvenile giant sharks probably spent this vulnerable stage of their lives in shallow water where food was plentiful and large predators had difficulty maneuvering."
Next Thursday, 1 April 2010, most government offices in the Republic of Panama will only be working a half-day and they will close their doors after 12:00 noon. There will be some (unspecified) exceptions, and offices that will be required to remain open due to the "nature and extent of their duties." In the Judicial Branch of government, all courts, Superior Tribunals, the Supreme Court, as well as all associated administrative offices will be closed on Thursday, 1 April 2010, thanks to Holy Week and Easter celebrations. (Source - TVN Noticias)
By DON WINNER for 
For the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days (forty days not counting Sundays) before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It can occur as early as 4 February or as late as 10 March. Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are gathered after the Palm Crosses from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned. In the liturgical practice of some churches, the ashes are mixed with the Oil of the Catechumens (one of the sacred oils used to anoint those about to be baptized), though some churches use ordinary oil. This paste is used by the minister who presides at the service to make the sign of the cross, first upon his or her own forehead and then on those of congregants. The minister recites the words: "Remember (O man) that you are dust, and to dust you shall return", or "Repent, and believe the Gospel." Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Conventionally, it is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. The forty days represent the time that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan. This practice was virtually universal in Christendom until the Protestant Reformation. Some Protestant churches do not observe Lent, but many, such as Lutherans, Methodists, and Anglicans do. (Source: Wikipedia)
A $10 million exhibit of California Gold Rush sunken treasure, the fabled “Ship of Gold,” will be publicly displayed during the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo on February 4–6. The exhibit includes historic gold coins and huge gold bars—one of them weighing in at more than 50 pounds—recovered from nearly 8,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. “The Central America was carrying tons of California gold when she sank in a hurricane in September 1857 during a voyage from Panama to New York City. About $10 million of that gold will be exhibited in an eye-opening public display housed in a specially-constructed 40-foot long representation of the ship’s hull,” said Ronald J. Gillio, Expo General Chairman. The exhibit is courtesy of Monaco Rare Coins of Newport Beach and involved months of work to coordinate the display with collectors who privately own and now have generously loaned many of the items for the exhibit. Robert D. Evans, the chief scientist on the 1980’s mission that located and recovered the fabulous sunken treasure, will be at the exhibit each day during the show to meet with visitors and present educational programs about the Ship of Gold. In addition to seeing gold, a free gold coin will be awarded daily to a lucky, registered visitor. Visitors will also see an exhibit of early American silver half dollars minted from 1794 to 1832. Many of the superb-quality rare coins in the collection are the finest known of their kind. A children’s treasure hunt will be held on Saturday, February 6. Educational programs and collectors’ clubs meetings will be conducted during the show and are open to the public. Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas, the world’s largest collectibles auction house, will hold a public sale of U.S. coins. The public hours of the Long Beach Expo are Thursday and Friday, February 4 and 5, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday, February 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $6 (good for all three days); $4 for members of any coin or stamp club who display a valid membership card; and $3 for seniors 65 and older. Free admission for children ages seven and younger. Discount coupons are available online at www.LongBeachExpo.com.
Today Panamanians are celebrating 46 years of the saga of 9 January 1964, in which 20 Panamanian students were killed and several more injured while trying to fly the Panamanian flag in the former Canal Zone, which at that time was under American rule. The attempted rescue of Panamanian sovereignty, led by students from the National Institute, whose sole intention was to ensure that the national flag fluttered next to the flag of the the United States, as established in an agreement between both nations, was opposed by the so-called "zonians" and U.S. troops. The clash between the two groups began with a scuffle which ended the Panamanian flag being torn and had the outcome the tragic deaths of Panamanians. (Source: Denise Lara for Telemetro)
By Jonathan Ellowitz - The call rang around the world: Gold in California! Of the 300,000 fortune-seekers who flocked to America's West Coast, at least 4,000 were Jews. The majority hailed from Prussia and other German-speaking lands, though others came from France, Spain, England, Poland, and America's East Coast. These Jews proved crucial to the establishment of American civilization in the Far West. Levi Strauss and the Capitalists - Unlike other forty-niners (a reference to 1849, the year the Gold Rush peaked), most Jews in the Gold Rush avoided the down-and-dirty work of mining. They typically were single men who wanted to take their chances with the alleged riches California promised, but they also wanted economic stability and the possibility of family growth in the future. Miners moved from town to town chasing gold discoveries; their intransient work was hardly family-friendly. So the Jews who went west, many of whom were already trained in business, became prodigious commercialists. They seized the opportunity to establish reliable lines of supply to meet miners' demands for boots, clothing, hats, and equipment. Some Jews worked as prospectors or engineers in mines, but most started supply businesses. Levi Strauss was the most famous German Jewish entrepreneur to exploit Gold Rush fever. Born in Bavaria in 1829, Strauss immigrated to New York City in 1847 to help run his two older brothers' dry goods business there. In 1853, he journeyed to California via the notorious Panama route. He sailed to the Isthmus of Panama (decades before its canal was opened), disembarked, and journeyed via mule and canoe through 60 miles of malarial swampland. At Panama's Pacific coast, he boarded a ship for San Francisco--the city that had become the hub of the Gold Rush.
ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kurt Muse received the Army’s Freedom Team Salute Commendation for helping to overthrow Panamanian General Manuel Noriega. In the 1980s, Muse, an Army Veteran, operated a bandit radio station in Panama that broadcast messages of freedom to the Panamanian people. He was arrested and imprisoned for nine months. The radio station, called Voice of Liberty, encouraged Panamanians to vote Noriega out of office. “We beseech you to vote,” one broadcast explained. “Together we can bury General Noriega’s dictatorship under a mountain of ballots.” Twenty years ago on December 20, 1989, the U.S. Military launched Operation Just Cause, the liberation of Panama, involving the largest parachute combat jump since WWII and the largest military action following Vietnam. One of the initial actions involved freeing Muse. Army Delta Force Soldiers landed by helicopter on the roof of Muse's prison and neutralized the guards. Next they blew the lock off Muse's cell and escorted him to the helicopter. Upon their departure, their aircraft took fire and eventually crashed. Soon an armored vehicle arrived and whisked Muse and his rescuers to safety. Muse was back in the United States in time to celebrate Christmas with his family. “Kurt Muse is a patriot,” said Colonel David Griffith, the Director of Freedom Team Salute. “It is a privilege to be able to honor him for the sacrifices he made in the name of freedom.” Freedom Team Salute is a Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff program that gives anyone the opportunity to say “Thank You” to discharged Army Veterans or civilians who provide support to Soldiers. It also gives Soldiers the opportunity to honor their parents, spouse and other family members for their sacrifice and support. Further, National Guard and Reserve Soldiers can honor their employers. The Freedom Team Salute Commendation consists of Certificate of Appreciation and Letter of Thanks signed by the Secretary of the Army and Army Chief of Staff and a customized Army Lapel pin.
BY LILY GORDON for the Ledger-Enquirer - Fort Benning will mark the 20th anniversary of Operation Just Cause, the invasion of Panama, with a jump at 11 a.m. at Fryar Drop Zone. Col. Charles Durr, Maneuver Center of Excellence chief of staff, was involved in both the operation and the planning of this event. In addition, Armor School Command Sgt. Maj. John Troxell was a tank commander with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 73rd Armor Regiment (Airborne) assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade at the time of the invasion. Both will be in attendance at today's jump.
La Prensa - Torchlight parade - Symbolizing their control over fire, a sea of torches illuminated Vía España last night during the traditional parade held by the "red shirts" of Panama's Fire Department to celebrate of the department on 28 November 1887, 122 years ago. It is an institution composed of brave men and women who enjoy the respect and appreciation of the Panamanian people. (Editor's Comment: Traffic was completely and totally hosed up last night as this parade was getting organized near the intersection of Via Brazil and Vía España. I mean, like cement - no one could go anywhere, in any direction. There were traffic police standing in the middle of the intersections looking perplexed because there was nothing they could do, no open spaces through which to send traffic. It was a total cluster, and it appeared as if no one had spent thirty seconds planning this event from a traffic impact point of view. Typical for Panama. Anyway, happy birthday fire dudes...)
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By Delfia Cortez for La Critica - More than 35,000 people are expected to make the pilgrimage today, 21 October 2009, to participate in the festivities of the Black Christ of Portobelo, which started at 7:00 am this morning with mass as the Church of San Felipe. Since last weekend the historic town of Portobelo has been visited by nationals and foreigners who come to celebrate their faith in the Jesus Nazareno de Portobelo, who is considered by followers to be a miraculous saint. For portobeleños and devotees from different parts of the country the festival on 21 October is to
remember that over 300 years ago when the image of the Black Christ arrived in Portobelo, the plague of smallpox disappeared from the town. That's why every October 21 in the village there are festivities to honor the saint who arrived at the town in an accidental manner after being abandoned by a ship that preferred to leave it behind and to continue their journey after they were threatened with increasingly heavy seas every time they tried to leave with box carrying the image.
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