Shameful submission to US colonialism – deputy

INDEPENDENT   deputy Ana Matilde delivered a spirited attack on the Varela government on Tuesday, Jan. 3  for it’s  ‘shameful submission to what may be a ‘modern form of colonialism’ in the possible closing of two Panama newspapers entangled in the Waked scandal.

Gómez requested a full report on the outcome of official efforts aimed at safeguarding the operation of two important institutions  of the country.

“It is not only the right to work, it is also the possibility of closing the circulation of the oldest newspaper in the country,” said Gómez about the imminent closure of La Estrella de Panama and El Siglo, due to the consequences of sanctions by being placed on the  ‘Clinton List’, by  the US Department of the Treasury.

According to the deputy, there has been “not a single pronouncement by  the authorities of this Government” to the situation of  the newspapers, covered by a general operating license that expires at midnight on January 5.

“We cannot just stay with  rhetoric, we need concrete actions … it is a matter of freedom of expression and national sovereignty,” said the deputy.

After she had finished speaking the Assembly  President, Ruben De Leon, , requested that a copy of her  intervention be sent to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Chancellery of the Republic.