$14 Million with No Construction and a District Without a Representative: The Barrio Norte Case
During the last administration (2019-2024), the community board received $14.1 million from parallel decentralization.
You may recall a highly publicized political scandal in Panama regarding the township of Barrio Norte in the province of Colón. The corregimiento received $14.1 million through a controversial “parallel decentralization” program but never saw any tangible public works or improvements for its residents.
The funding was channeled through the local junta comunal between 2019 and 2024 to supposedly address community needs. However, a lack of oversight, coupled with embezzlement and mismanagement of funds, resulted in absolutely no construction being completed.
The area was left without any real governance or voice when its elected representative, Javier Lynch pictured above, was detained pending trial by court order, plunging the corregimiento into an unprecedented vacuum of representation.
Barrio Norte, in the province of Colón, went from being the district that received the most resources through the controversial parallel decentralization to facing an unprecedented lack of representation. As you may recall, in the 2019 elections, Jairo Salazar, candidate for the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), was simultaneously elected representative of Barrio Norte and deputy to the National Assembly. Salazar chose to serve as deputy and left the representation of the district in the hands of his alternate, Javier Lynch pictured below, as stipulated by electoral regulations.
