Torrijos: Reforms Are
Not Political Spying
PANAMA - Panamanian
President Martin
Torrijos denied on
Tuesday that reforms
boosted by his
government seek to
reestablish political
espionage on the
opposition or forms of
militarism in the
country.
In an interview of over
one hour, the president
told the television
channel two those
changes are intended for
institutionalization, to
guarantee peace and
quietness to the
citizenry.
He also said all States
face threats, and Panama
has the inter-oceanic
Canal, which forces us
to have intelligence
mechanisms for
information to prevent
any incident or criminal
action.
Eighty percent of the
struggle against crime
requires intelligence
information and 20
percent is shaped by
actions, said the leader
when commenting the
official project of
creating a service of
that kind.
If we do not have
professionals to attack
criminality, we will be
able to do very little
to face up to the
problems caused by
crime, he said.
The reforms of the
police corps are
questioned by sectors of
the traditional
opposition, which alert
about a supposed return
to forms of militarism
in the country.
Panama has lacked an
army since the cruel
invasion started by the
United States on
December 20, 1989, with
which the then Defense
Forces were dismantled.
Torrijos was invested in
late June with
extraordinary power by
the parliament to
legislate by decree,
about the reforms,
currently submitted to
guilds of the private
sector, professionals
and other sectors for
approval.
|
