US visa statementsparks sovereignty debate

The announcement by the United States that a visa could be revoked for Panamanian politicians or businessmen who have participated in non-transparent agreements or possible acts of was a foreseeable measure that has been used before   but is seen by some as a soft coup reports La Estrella.

Among those who lost visas are former President Ernesto Pérez Balladares, Marta Martinelli, wife of former President Ricardo Martinelli,  and Salomon Shama former tourism administrator although there is no accusation or a reason given why it was done.

some Panama commentators see the visa used as part of a strategy to pressure Panama over its relations with the government of  China but is welcomed by others.

“It is a practice of the Government of the US, based on its prerogative as a sovereign State. I hope they take it away from all the corrupt people here so they cannot go to Disney World, “said  Professor Carlos Guevara Mann, of Florida State University.

Euclides Tapia, professor of international relations at the University of Panama,  described it as a security issue adding that President Varela’s decision  to change the relationship with Taiwan  and sign agreements with China was pressured by certain economic groups, who  consider that  it was possible to open markets, “but things with China are not so transparent and this creates uncertainty. ” with the Asian

Meanwhile In the middle of the controversy over the siting of the China Embassy the internationalist Julio Yao points out that the  US Embassy, in Panama occupied 18 hectares  “the United Kingdom (2 hectares) and Mexico (3 hectares). “How is it explained that in Panama, which has only four million inhabitants, it has 18 hectares. Or does this confirm that we are an occupied  country or in a war zone?”

In his opinion, the fact that President Donald Trump is investigating Panama for multiple crimes, of a “moral, ethical and political order” interferes with the aspirations of the United States to establish itself as an “executive judge of the world and more so in Panama.

Yao warns that it is no coincidence that mention is made of a “supposed fight against corruption” in the case of Panama, as it is one of the forms of “soft coup” to which the United States can turn. Previously, they have implemented instruments such as the “Clinton List”

“The State Department is going to punish as corrupt the governments that, according to them, play into China, for a supposed lack of transparency,” he said and sees relations with China as a challenge, but also an opportunity.