The Second ‘Café Presidente El Monasterio’ in Panama. Plan Libertad Expands its Job Reintegration Model.
President José Raúl Mulino, along with First Lady Maricel Cohen de Mulino pictured above, and cabinet ministers, inaugurated “Café Presidente El Monasterio” on Tuesday. Located in the Old Quarter, near the Presidential Palace, this is the second branch of this initiative, part of the Freedom Plan, promoted by the Ministry of Government and the Office of the First Lady. The plan focuses on technical training and social reintegration through employment.
The Minister of Government, Dinoska Montalvo pictured above, emphasized that the project goes beyond simply offering a commercial service and seeks to generate real opportunities for people who have completed their sentences. “Today we are not only inaugurating a café, we are here to demonstrate that resolve also opens doors and creates opportunities. Café Presidente was created to build a bridge between the person serving their sentence and the society to which they must return,” the minister stated.
Montalvo above emphasized that resocialization does not imply forgetting or leniency, but rather offering a genuine opportunity for personal transformation. “The crime exists, the sentence is served, and that person will return to society. You will remember that a decision was made here: the decision not to give up on transformation. And that there was a president who had the resolve to correct wrongdoing, but also the strength not to abandon the possibility of transforming human life,” the official added.
For her part pictured above, Maricel Cohen de Mulino the First Lady and godmother of the Freedom Plan highlighted the program’s impact on rebuilding families, as well as the symbolic value of the historic building constructed in 1743. “We were clear that this place could no longer be forgotten. We wanted to bring it back to life and give it a purpose, so that the people in the Freedom Plan could receive training here, learn a trade, and prepare for a new opportunity,” she stated. “Café Presidente” promotes training in areas such as barista skills, customer service, and business administration, providing prior work experience to incarcerated individuals in the reintegration phase. This opening restores a heritage structure in the Old Quarter and consolidates a model that integrates heritage, employment, and second chances for both locals and visitors, according to a statement from the Office of the President.
