Sour Rating for
President Torrijos in
Panama
(Angus Reid Global
Monitor) - Most people
in Panama are unhappy
with the performance of
Martín Torrijos,
according to a poll by
Unimer published in La
Prensa. 61 per cent of
respondents think the
president has done a bad
or very bad job leading
the country.
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 us$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 Jun. 20, Torrijos
announced that the
government will spend
close to $40 million
U.S. in energy subsidies
in order to stem rising
inflation mainly caused
by the price of fuel.
The president said the
program will be in
effect for the next six
months, and concluded:
"We cannot predict how
much more oil prices
will increase."
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