President Torrijos
Splits Views in Panama
Death Toll In Guatemalan
Garbage Slide Rises To
11
El Salvador Spurns
US-Cuba Blockade
Bolivia Referendum Under
Media Attack, Minister
Argentina Stages Naval
Drill With Brazil,
Chile, U.S.
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President Torrijos
Splits Views in Panama
(Angus Reid Global
Monitor) - Panamanians
are almost evenly
divided when assessing
the performance of
Martín Torrijos,
according to a poll by
Dichter & Neira released
by TVN Noticias and
Panamá América. 48.2 per
cent of respondents
think the president is
doing a good or
excellent job, while
49.9 per cent believe he
is performing poorly.
Torrijos—the son of Omar
Torrijos, an army
general who ruled Panama
from 1968 to 1981—won
the May 2004
presidential election as
a candidate for the
Revolutionary Democratic
Party (PRD) with 47.44
per cent of the vote.
In 1999, Panama regained
full control of the
Panama Canal, the source
of 10 per cent of the
country’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). In
October 2006, Panamanian
voters supported the
canal’s $5.25 billion
U.S. expansion
plan—which would add a
parallel set of locks to
allow giant cargo ships
to pass through the
waterway—in a nationwide
referendum.
On Jul. 24, leaders of
the association of
Panamanian unions met
with Torrijos to demand
higher wages to face a
trend of rising
inflation. The president
said he would "evaluate"
their demands,
declaring, "We will act
with responsibility to
find options and
alternatives that are
available to us as the
government in order to
alleviate a situation
that, we know, is
difficult for all
Panamanians."
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