OFF THE CUFF: Varela gets a break from offshore scandal

 AFTER  the toughest two weeks of his time in office, ,President, Juan Carlos Varela, set off  for Japan and  Singapore on Friday April 15,  which  is comfortably offshore.

The trip has been in the works since Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapie. traveled to Japan earlier in the year to sign an agreement fo the construction of Metro Line 3 and a fourth Canal bridge.

The Mossack  Fonseca affair  is still front and center aound the world and there are local demands for deeper investigation of his former advisors who founded the beleaguered law firm, and calls for the ousting of relatives of the two men who are still involved in the ruling administration.

In Japan, the President will discuss the issue of financing of Metro line 3 towards Panama West, and will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, officials and businessmen,, although some of the shine will  be off the trip as shadows of the Panama Papers  still linger  and new high profile names  involved in hiding assets are revealed daily.

In Singapore, Varela will meet with the country’s president, Tony Tan and visit the facilities of the Port Authority of Singapore and ITE vocational schools HQ, on which Panama has  based a Specialized Higher Technical Institute project.

The Panamanian delegation comprising the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Augusto Arosemena; the administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority, Jorge Barakat; First Lady Lorena Castillo de Varela, the deputy minister of Public Works Marietta Jaen, ambassadors and special mission, Raul Sandoval and Jonathan Del Rosari and Miguel Hincapie.