OPINION:  Panama's Phyrric Victory

In “Essay on the abundance of fish”, the author tells the story of a country experiencing an epidemic. At first, ministers take decisive action. They order quarantines, buy equipment, indebted the country, and distribute goods to compensate for the lack of income. The measures are applauded from overseas. A new tradition is established, the mass at 6:00 pm that citizens share in the community. Occasionally, the patriarch appears and warns that hard times are coming, although it takes 20 minutes to say so. A single team.

Three months later, it is discovered that there was more than one team and even different rules for the game. Some played with fans and modules, others called meetings in violation of their own provisions. The 68-day absolute quarantine turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory. At an enormous economic cost, the curve was flattened, but now the country is experiencing a more intense second wave. In response, the ministers, already without ideas, tired and disconnected from reality, rewind the cassette and play it again –LA PRENSA, June 24