President Ricardo Martinelli today said he feels frustrated by the constant criticisms he receives about the Mi Bus. (more)

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About 98% of the owners of the Diablo Rojos have been compensated, stated by the Minister of Government, Jorge Ricardo Fábrega. (more)

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Fernando Aramburú Porras, an economist and former director of the IRHE, said the current energy crisis prevailing in the country is the result of poor planning by the Etesa transmission company. (more)

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The director of the National Civil Protection System, Arturo Alvarado, said it is not necessary to use the resources from the Panama Savings Fund (FAP) to address a possible drought emergency.

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The Ministry of Public Works (MOP), and the FCC announced that starting Wednesday May 8, 2013 from 6:00 a.m., Via Brasil will be closed at the intersections between Via Israel and Calle 50. (more)

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The governments of Panama and Taiwan signed on Monday, May 6, the act of donation of the first consignment to build a hospital in Bocas del Toro, which will result in great benefits for this province and the Ngöbe-Buglé region. (more)

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The new schedule established by the Government starting today and for the next five or 10 days, from 7:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m. for public institutions, will cause more anxiety within public transportation users. (more)

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With the increase in cases of fire in the early months of 2013, the authorities of the Fire Department of Panama (CBP) will intensify the training session for officials around the country. (more)

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The Popular Party’s former delegate Camilo Brenes, considered that the Water Authority’s project is missing a broad and well organized consultation, so he praised the decision of the Government of postponing the legislative debate.

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"A subway station is not the same thing as a bus stop." (more)

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The director of Panama's National Police (PN), Julio Molto said that until April 30 of this year there were 248 homicides, which represent a decrease of 34% compared with the first third of last year. (more)

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The President of the Republic, Ricardo Martinelli wrote on Sunday night in his Twitter account "what a great article on Panama in the New York Times. (more)

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The president, Ricardo Martinelli, said no other government had done something so favorable for the people of Panama Viejo, as it is the construction of the new road Cincuentenario. (more)

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Energy rationing is more and more definite. (more)

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Those looking for a house today will have to face the new reality, a smaller and more expensive home. (more)

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About 51 thousand square kilometers used for mining extraction –which is around 21 times the size of the district of San Miguelito or the equivalent to 1.5% of the country, including part of the provinces of Colon and Cocle- is allegedly owned by Petaquilla Minerals LTD., chaired by the Panamanian citizen Richard Fifer. (more)

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The 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games officially opened Saturday, May 4, 2013. In attendance were the 24 countries with over 150 athletes and team officials, who traveled to Panama from every corner of the world. Local authorities, officials and thousands of enthusiastic Panamanians were witnesses to the start of the World Championship.

The National Delegations congregated in the town of Soná and walked through the streets that were filled with thousands of supporters. When arriving to the Opening Ceremony stage for the Sands of the World Ceremony, two representatives of each delegation walked on stage, one waving the national flag while the other poured sand from their local beach into a glass container, symbolizing the peaceful gathering of nations through the love of surfing.

"It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games in Panama, in this incredible place of Santa Catalina and its amazing Panamanian waves that are feeding us a lot of energy that will transform this into a historic championship," remarked ISA President Fernando Aguerrre. "I want to give special thanks to President Martinelli, the Minister of Tourism Salomon Shamah, the organizers of the event Tuti de Leon and Patrick Castagnet and all of the Panamanians that since four years ago have been welcoming us with open arms and warm hearts to brighten our stay."

"First of all, we are bringing this event to the interior of the country where our nation's natural resources are and the spirit and culture," said Vice Minister of Tourism Ernesto Orillac. "By bringing all of these people from all over the world, will leave as ambassadors of our country."

"Everyone that is involved in sports knows that even with great support, a lot of work goes into putting on this kind of World Championship," said Panama's National Olympic Committee President Camilo Amado. "These types of occurrences have a great effect on our national athletes to help them develop and represent our country by improving year after year."

After a beautiful showcase of local Panamanian traditional dances, the 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games was officially declared open.

Following the Opening Ceremony, the Official Press Conference took place featuring ISA President Fernando Aguerre, Panama's Vice Minister of Tourism Ernesto Orillac, Mayor of Soná Faustino Camaño, Reef Latin America Marketing Manager Alejandro Azpiazu, Panama's National Olympic President Camilo Amado, Team Panama's Gian Carlos "Oli" Gonzales, and Team Australia's Coach Mike McSuliffe. Dozens of Panama's media outlets were in attendance.

Competition starts on Sunday with The Morning Show at 7:40am (local time) followed by all 24 heats of the Open Men's Qualifying round. (Press Release)

Work being done on the sides of the access road to the Centennial Bridge, specifically in the area near the old Chivo - Chivo antenna farm, will prompt the closure of two lanes, one in each direction. (more)

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The company Mi Bus reported they will be making adjustments to meet the new work schedule for government employees that will take effect starting tomorrow, Monday, 6 May 2013, due to electricity rationing. (more)

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Despite a fine and a 30 day term given to the company SONDA on 19 April 2013 by the Transportation Authority (ATTT), the company has not established 1,000 sales points and recharge centers where bus riders can recharge the electronic cards used to pay for bus fare on the Metro Bus public transportation system, as established in their contract with the government. (more)

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Judges from the Netherlands, Taiwan, United States, Japan and South Korea will choose from among 46 lots the best coffee in Panama, in a tasting that will begin tomorrow in the western province of Chiriqui, said the organizers today. (more)

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Jose Ramos, the General Secretary of the Popular Party (PP), on Sunday, May 5, accused the presidential candidate of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Juan Carlos Navarro, to be the one responsible for the unauthorized distribution of a letter containing a list of their demands in order to form a political alliance. (more)

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Panama is emerging as a strategic center of the Americas for data storage and processing, this is shown by the dozen companies that have invested about 250 million dollars to open operations in the country. (more)

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National Police units seized 11 kilos of cocaine in the community of Cerro Silvestre in Arraijan.

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Panama's government will strengthen its fight against drug trafficking with the acquisition of six Agusta AW-139 helicopters, of which four are already in operation under the command of the National Air Service (SENAN). (more)

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A couple of weeks ago, during the meeting of businessmen from Mesoamerica – which took place before the meeting of the governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) - President Ricardo Martinelli said during his speech his government was in the middle of a process of cleaning up the Bay of Panama and Panama City, and that by 2014 people will be able to swim in these beaches as they do in Miami or Brazil. (more)

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President Ricardo Martinelli’s concern on the electricity issue was raised at the meeting of the Central American Integration System (SICA) with the president of the United States (U.S.), Barack Obama, held on Friday night in San Jose, Costa Rica.

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By Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com - Last night I was contacted by Rob Potuzak. It was his wife Donna Margaret Potuzak who fell from the widow of their 29th floor apartment this week. I've met Rob and Donna on several occassions in the past, but honestly when I first saw the news reporting in the Panamanian press I didn't put the two together.

There were several factual errors in the original Spanish language news reports in the local media. Rob contacted me today in order to set the record straight. Both Rob and Donna have been long-time readers of this website. Rob said "my wife was a real fan of yours and read your site everyday. She was even happier when you went to the video because reading was hard for her." So I asked Rob to send me an email with the facts in order to get it right, and to keep me from accidentally misquoting him. Also, by him sending me the email specifically in order to correct the errors in the earlier Spanish language reporting - knowing it would be published on this website as written - then Rob could be free to include as much information, or withhold as much as he wanted for personal or privacy reasons.

Here's the email Rob sent to me this evening, which I just received.

• "Dear Don,

  I really don't know how to do without going back to the beginning, and the beginning is July 2, 2010 when I rushed Donna to emergency and she was diagnosed with meningitis which is a bacterial infection of the lining of the brain.

  SHE NEVER HAD A STROKE as was stated in the news article. She was in ICU for two weeks and in total was in hospital for 31 days.

  When she got out she could not speak one word. She could not read one word, she couldn't add 2 + 2, but she could understand everything that was said to her.

  Her brain damage was "aphasia" in english "afascia" in Spanish. It is something that occurs very often in stroke victims as well as victims of severe meningitis. You are trapped in your head, never being able to express your wants or needs while understanding everything that's being said around you. It makes a person kind of crazy.

  When she got out of hospital on August 2, 2010 she had a period of about a month or two where she did a lot of crazy things at our apartment building. She would leave the apartment when I wasn't watching her and go up and down the elevator. I would enlist the two cleaning guys in the building (Raphael and Nelson) to help me find her through use of the security cameras in the elevators and other parts of the building. The only involvement of the SECURITY GUARDS was to watch the cameras and let myself or the two cleaners know where she was.

  We would find her and I would take her back to the apartment. This period lasted only about one and a half months. It was like having an aged parent with dementia.

  During this time she did go out onto the little balcony where the air conditioner compressor sits. She had no fear of heights like some people, she had seen the air conditioner installers work out there. She made a lot noise, because she couldn't speak, but she made no attempt to jump, as people who heard or saw her out here assumed she was about to do. I went to the window that opened on the the little balcony and asked her very nicely to come back in, which after a time she did.

  AT NO TIME DID ANY SECURITY PEOPLE CARRY HER IN, OR CARRY HER ANY WHERE ELSE.

  One time in the first month or two she locked the door from the inside as I took out the garbage. Because I was so afraid of what she might do behind that locked door (she would not let me back in) I enrolled the two cleaners to help me go over the roof in a harness to drop down the the little air conditioner balcony outside our master bedroom, from the top floor a 12 foot drop from the roof.

  Nelson insisted as he was much smaller and younger he would go. Raphael and I eased him down on a heavy steel cable and he went in through the window. He came down stairs and opened the door for me. Donna was watching TV.

  This period ended as I was able to start teaching her to speak again and with the help of a 2 times a week speech therapist. As she was able to start communicating her apparent dementia staring disappearing. After this you met her a number of times and she talked to you reasonably well.

  Everything was fine for quite a well and the in the winter of 2011 / 2012 she started to have serious anxiety problems (no more balcony moments) but she could not sleep. I took her to a psychiatrist and she was on sleeping pills and anti anxiety medication for about five months.

  Finally she told me what her problem was. She told she was scared that, as I was eight years older, if something was to happen to me she would be absolutely lost in Panama with her disability. I said OK we sell out here and move back to Canada and go to live with her mother and sister. The next day her anxiety was gone. She slept well no more pills.

  The third period in this story started about a month ago. We had sold our penthouse and I was making all the arrangements to move to Canada. Every time I completed something new (airlines, hotels, more airlines in Canada to get from Toronto to Regina, hotels, etc.) she got more anxious and scared.

  She keep looking at the weather everyday for Regina (terrible winter, seven feet of snow.) She feared her situation was causing me to move to a place that I would hate for the rest of my life.

  That bring us up to Thursday, May 2, 2013. At 4:00 am I woke to a banging sound like someone slapping a window. I looked over and Donna was not beside me. As I went down the stairs I saw that she was out on the little air conditioner balcony outside of the laundry room. I talked to her nicely, sweet talked her and she then let me help her in (as long as I did get angry with her, which I didn't).

  IF SHE REALLY WANTED TO JUMP SHE WOULD NOT HAVE BANGED ON THE WINDOW TO WAKE ME.

  We went back up to bed and went back to sleep. We got up in the morning, had breakfast and had a normal morning. At about eleven I had to go out to do some chores, bank deposits etc. At about 1:00 PM I called and told her I would be home in 15 minutes. This I believe is when she decided to stage another little scene.

  When I got home I called out to her but got no answer. I looked in all the rooms and finally found the door to the maid's room (which we use as a pantry) closed and locked.

  This door is normally never closed as it is held open with a latch. So I banged on the door until Donna finally answered and I told her to open the door. She did open the door but as I entered she backed away from me. She stepped on a little bench we have against the window (and) hopped up onto the window ledge.

  I saw as this was happening in a split second that the window was wide open. As she hopped up on the window ledge she couldn't halt her momentum. She now had her back to the open window, but as her right hand and arm were pretty much useless from the meningitis she was not able to balance herself.

  She fell backwards out of the window with only her lower legs showing (like someone on a trapeze). I was able to grab her legs before she fell, but all the rest of her was hanging straight down the side of the building. I pulled and I pulled but she was sweaty and my hands were sweaty and finally she just slipped out of my grip. I watched her fall all the way down, something I will see for the rest of my life.

  The maid from the apartment below us looking out her maid's room window saw the whole thing take place. NOBODY INTERVIEWED HER APPARENTLY.

  I believe Donna just wanted to sit on that window ledge, in a dangerous place, and have me sweet talk her back down. SHE DID NOT JUMP, SHE FELL BACKWARDS OUT THE WINDOW.

  It was a terrible tragedy. But, the story in the press makes it even more of a tragedy talking about her like she was some kind of an insane person bent on killing herself all the time. Her mother and her sister could stumble on the article somehow on the internet. All the talk about attempted suicide was bullshit. There's no such thing as attempted suicide from 29 floors up you either are going to jump or not, so those few times she went on the little balconies were NOT SUICIDE ATTEMPTS. They were her way of saying I need help with my anxieties and fears.

  For the record her name was: Donna Margaret Potuzak and she was 59 years old and I loved her with all my heart.

  Regards, Rob

Editor's Comment: Good Lord, Rob. You've been through enough. I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know...

Copyright 2013 Panama-Guide.com.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, said in Costa Rica the meeting held by the heads of state of Central America and their U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, was very productive for the region. (more)

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Today, Saturday May 4, the fire department evacuated the Credicorp Bank building located on Calle 50 because of a fire. (more)

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