WHAT THE PAPERS SAY: Panama democracy resembling dreaded dictatorship
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As we celebrate the anniversary of our homeland we must also pause to reflect on the direction our country is taking.
The U.S. invasion in 1989, changed the future of Panama. We had lived for 21 years under military dictatorship and this year marks 21 years of governments who were elected democratically. This last stage of our republican life has not been perfect.
Democracy became the victim of governments that have evolved into a grotesque caricature. The growth of presidential increasingly autocratic rule, and the formal powers of democracy, without shame or decency, become puppets of the Executive. With only one honorable exception, presidents-without distinction of party colors, have stripped away judicial and legislative independence.
This authoritarianism dressed in robes of democracy, begins to resemble the dreaded dictatorship, and without realizing it we begin to suffer the same fears that the military instilled. Our democracy is sick, infected by corruption. If evil is advancing, frankly there is very little to celebrate these days.
Prensa, Hoy por Hoy, November 3
