Punishing Panamas corrupt, fantasy or possibility?

PANAMA Archbishop of José Domingo Ulloa, has followed up his Novembers 3 homily on corruption with  a demanded that the government of Juan Carlos Varela investigate and severely punish those responsible.

It is a call echoed across the country and, if followed will do much to end the innate cynicism among voters who believe that “they” [the corrupt] belong to an insider circle whose members will never be prosecuted by the incoming hierarchy lest in time their turn will come.

Compounded by a Justice system shown to be malleable, and not averse to having palms crossed with silver, gold, or dollars (preferably deposited in an offshore account)

“It is unavoidable and essential that due process is followed, and that human dignity is respected and if there’s evidence the perpetrators harshly punished,” said Ulloa.

His statements were made in the Te Deum held at the Cathedral in San Felipe, as part of the celebration of the 111 years of the separation of Panama from Colombia, on November 3, 1903, itself a flawed process, where the changing hands of US dollars played a big role in the “uprising” of the elite who still rule, regardless of party affiliation. If you don’t get what you want from the folks to whom you have pledged allegiance, then discard them like an old glove, and with luck the new one will be filled with enough lucre in cash or profitable appointments to make the change worthwhile.

 The Archbishop recommended investigating “all cases of corruption, so that you can know the truth and not just that part of the truth that befits a few.” Strong words, but the kind of action that is needed to break the ongoing cycle of “forgive-and-forget-it’s- my-turn-next.”

Ulloa also called for another unlikely scenario asking the corrupt to recognize that their crime has caused harm and must be “addressed and purified.”

He also said that the strengthening of institutions, transparency, and justice requires having personal parameters for the common good in order to be effective.

“We recognize, for example, that we are a sick society, with an urgent need to heal and save the national soul,” the archbishop told the congregation which President Juan Carlos Varela and other high level government figures.

The president said that the message of Ulloa was “very clear” and that any consolidation of a democratic system goes through fraternal correction. Time will tell and there are cells available in the Renacer Prison, home to former military dictator, Antonio Noriega.