President ignores fate of oldest paper

LA ESTRELLA, founded in February 1849 by two American’s  during the California gold rush, could die this week, killed by a US decree  putting 250  staff out of work.

In it’s January 3 edition, La Estrella carried an update on its fragile status:

 In his report to the nation on his thirty months of administration, during the installation of the third period of the National Assembly, the President Juan Carlos Varela, ignored the situation of Grupo Editorial El Siglo and La Estrella de Panamá (GESE) , whose operations have been compromised since May 5, , when the United States Department of the Treasury designated its main shareholder, Abdul Waked, for money laundering activities, without presenting evidence that proves an ‘administrative sanction’ as their inclusion in the ‘Clinton List’.

Isabel de Saint Malo, the vice president and chancellor of the Republic, said that the situation is of concern to the Panamanian government.

 However, the head of diplomacy added that the company has to take other types of actions that allow it to continue operating.

“These are not actions against the Republic of Panama, they are against an economic group. Look what Felix did and look at what Soho did, ‘  added De Saint Malo, suggesting that the sale of GESE could prevent the dismissal of 250 employees, heads of families, from the Panamanian publishing house.

The Felix B. Maduro department store, owned by Waked International when it was included on the ‘Clinton List’, was sold to a consortium led by Grupo Arrocha.

The position of the chancellor coincides with that of the United States ambassador in Panama, John Feeley. “What a pity that, instead of pragmatism, the captain of that ship does not yield the helm,” said Feeley, in what seems to be a death sentence for the publishing group that publishes the oldest newspaper in the country – La Estrella de Panamá -. “The dice are rolled and it depends on the captain of that ship,” he added.

The owner of the Panamanian company, however, has pointed out that the newspapers are not for sale.

The US diplomat, preferred to use a metaphor to refer to the subject and gave media  no opportunity to ask more questions.

The license granted by the US Government to the company only allows the two GESE journals to operate with US citizens and companies until January 5, 2017.

 Administrative decision
Labor and Labor Development Minister Mitradel, Luis Ernesto Carles, said that this is an administrative decision of the US government, “in the sense of seeing whether or not the license is extended.”

After the inclusion of Waked on the Clinton List, the government promised to protect the jobs of GESE’s collaborators, but yesterday Carles said he would ensure the benefits of the workers.

‘You should ask the owners  why they do not want to step in before imposing these measures are imposed. It is not something that depends solely on the government, “said  the head of the Mitradel, in an attempt to get rid of the issue.

Eduardo Quirós, President of GESE, has pointed out that the operation of the newspapers is not viable with the extension of a license or with its inclusion in the ‘Clinton List’.

De Saint Malo added that the United States has not responded to a request from the Panamanian government to extend the type three license for one year to the editorial group.