“No insecurity in Panama” – Minister   

There is no insecurity in Panama but there is a problem with rival gangs, “said the Minister of Security, Juan Pino  during a photo-op tour of the Metro Subway for the installation of 500 surveillance cameras.

He was reacting to public concern about the recent murders in San Miguelito including a man shot in broad daylight, at the Cerro Batea health center.

 “There is no insecurity in the country. But there is a problem with rival gangs. Rival gangs that are Panamanian criminal organizations that fight drugs, “said Pino

In this sense, he acknowledged that the situation has become somewhat complicated in San Miguelito. “Now we have a small problem in San Miguelito with these rival gangs,” said the Minister.

He promised immediate action: “Actions will be taken. The order to the National Police is already in place to reinforce and give security priority to San Miguelito. We know the impatience of the normal citizen who watches social etworks. The networks sometimes do not tell the truth, but there is security and the commitment is there ”, said Juan Pino.

Both the Minister of Security and the Director of the Police, John Dornheim, were summoned today to the Women’s Commission of the Assembly to respond to a questionnaire on strategies to face crimes such as femicide, domestic violence, among others.

He reiterated that he will not resign because he is doing his job.

“There is no insecurity in the country because we are doing it, the results are tangible,” he said. He attributed Wednesday’s killings in Cerro Batea and San Carlos to the rivalry between criminal gangs.

Despite questions from various sectors of society, including some groups calling

for his resignation, the minister said that “he has not committed any illegal act to

resign . “

“I am doing the job that corresponds to me and this requires a lot of transparency and strength because we know that when you step on organized crime many times you do not know what you are treading and that is the job that the Ministry of Security is doing,” he stressed. 

He insisted that security cannot be broken, ut with COVID-19 the strategies have changed, and “the results at the end of the year will be seen. “

According to Pino, they are going to lower the crime rate in San Miguelito and Panama Oeste.

He said that everything that is drugs is linked to organized crime, which is why the finances of these groups have to be attacked,