Canal board nominee forgives her critics

Lourdes Castillo said Wednesday February 6, that she "forgives" the people who have criticized her nomination to serve on the board of the Panama Canal Authority.
"It's a shame, I'm embarrassed," she said. "The sin of Lourdes Castillo is womanhood." she told La Prensa
Castillo and the two other nominees, Alberto Vallarino and Henri Mizrachi, are currently being reviewed by the Credentials Committee of the National Assembly.
Castillo said she is not concerned by the barrage of criticism her nomination has provoked. "I forgive them," she said. "I am struggling to move forward day by day."
Castillo has been identified as a shareholder in the company Naves Supply, which received a contract to build a wastewater treatment plant in the Port of Balboa in 2007. Rules prohibit board members of the Canal Authority from having interests in companies that receive contracts from it. Castillo has denied any wrong doing .She has also been accused of wrongly claiming that she was the “sister” of the first of the January  9 1964 martyrs, whose killing by American troops, paved the way for the handing over of the canal to Panama.
"There no conflict of interest because my company has never signed a contract or been a subcontractor (for the authority)," Castillo said.
She said that if her nomination is ratified she will be interested only in serving the Panamanian people.