Avoiding the Panama tax haven label

The Assembly has had in its hands, since last year, two bills that are necessary to keep Panama away from the lists of those considered tax havens. Those two projects – 591 and 692 – are stalled because the deputies allege that the Executive has warned that they must approve them “without modifications being introduced”. The Executive knows perfectly well that it is right of the deputies to make the modifications that they believe are pertinent, but they must not forget that they have to respect the spirit of the projects, because, otherwise, we will continue to be affected by the actions of international organizations, with the negative consequences that are intended to be avoided. The deputies also argue that the discussion of these projects should be done with the participation of all the groups, and they are right. The absence of deputies delays the discussions and their presence may even enrich the analysis. The certain thing is that next month, in Europe a revision of the lists will be made, and without the approval of these projects, surely we will appear in them, breaching commitments acquired as a State. –LA PRENSA, Jan 13