Month: March 2023

It is reported today that, apparently, Panama is experiencing an unusual number of cases of malaria. Scientists from the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies (ICGES) in Panama City made the announcement. It seems that in the province of Darién (the wild area on the Colombian border) the highest incidence of cases is because of 2 native strains which, although less aggressive, are causing asymptomatic or subclinical symptoms that contribute to the increase in contagion. It was also suggested that the increase in cases of the disease could also be associated with other factors, including the large increase in migration at the Colombian/Panamanian border. Only the anopheles genus of the mosquito transmits malaria. As I think I have mentioned before, the advent of the rainy season is when we, in the city, tend to see (or feel!) more mosquitos, and that means around this time of year.

23 MARCH 2023

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On 22 March, ACAMS reported that the executive secretary of the FATF affiliate in Europe has left his position following revelations about his family ties to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR.  Russian national Igor Nebyvaev had led the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures, or Moneyval, since March 2020.  FATF barred Russia from participating in meetings in October and formally suspended the country’s membership in February.

https://www.moneylaundering.com/news/moneyval-chief-quits-after-report-links-him-to-russian-intelligence/

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On 20 March, a report from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Science says that, across Latin America, transnational criminal organisations, transnational gangs, and extra-regional actors supporting authoritarian regimes are exploiting growing cracks in the region’s weak financial regulations by transferring parts of their financial holdings to cryptocurrency, thereby avoiding detection and asset seizures.  Opportunities for criminal use of crypto have significantly increased in the past few years; a growing number of high corruption governments, which also act as money laundering havens, are actively courting unvetted crypto investors with purposeful deregulation and opacity.

https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2023/03/20/the-growing-use-of-cryptocurrencies-by-transnational-organized-crime-groups-in-latin-america/

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On 23 March, Al Jazeera published its report saying that there are rival gangs — with many different characters.  From new-age pastors to old-school smugglers, and from diplomats to the Zimbabwean president’s niece.  Al Jazeera’s investigation has uncovered a band of criminals driving gold smuggling and money laundering worth billions of dollars in southern Africa.  It some of the key individuals running the mafia.  These include a gold smuggler from Kenya who has now moved his operations to Dubai and is smuggling gold from all over Africa, mostly from Zimbabwe, under cover of running a church.  Another is one of Zimbabwe’s most influential diplomats, a special envoy and ambassador-at-large to Europe and the Americas since 2021.  Another is a pastor in Angel’s Good News Church and a musician.  Another is a woman who is the president of Zimbabwe’s mining association and a niece of President Mnangagwa.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/gold-mafia-godmen-conmen-president-niece

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/gold-smuggler-pattni-kenya-zimbabwe

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/top-zimbabwe-ambassador-gold-smuggling

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/gold-mafia-looting-southern-africa

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“Herman the German” (real name “Titan”) is a giant floating crane used on the Panama Canal and is approaching retirement.

It was one of 3 heavy lift cranes built in 1941 by Demag Cranes AG as Schwimmkran No. 1 for the Kreigsmarine for use in the Baltic Sea tending to U-Boats. After the war it was removed to the US but, following the closure in 1995 of the US shipyard in Long Beach where it had been employed, it was sold to the Panama Canal Commission and it was transported on a semi-submersible ship in 1996 to the Canal Zone, where it remained into the 21^st century, serving as the floating crane Titan. It is described as a large, self-propelled crane vessel with the tip of its main boom standing at 374 feet above the typical water line.

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The photo is one I took myself, showing the crane at Gamboa. What will become of this bit of history? There is a great video on the history and use of the crane on You Tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_gBoPhb1fg&t=4s

22 MARCH 2023

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On 22 March, a Notice from HM Treasury advised that the entry for Ashraf Said Ahmed Hussein ALI has been amended.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1144930/Notice_Global_Anti-Corruption_220323.pdf

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On 22 March, a Notice from HM Treasury advised that a duplicate entry relating to Sergey Borisovich KOROLEV has been removed – the original entry still being on the Consolidated List of those subject to sanctions.  The entry relating to Alexey Viktorovich KUZMICHEV has been amended.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1145084/Notice_Russia_220323.pdf

I did spot a woman, who passed me and seemed to be wearing two different coloured stockings…now I find that that this was to mark World Down Syndrome Day. I didn’t notice anything in the English language newspapers, even the Guardian, before I went out. It was only in La Prensa, when I got home, that I found out.

The weather is supposed to be changing here, as the dry season “Summer” ends. However, though we have had a little rain, it seems sunnier and hotter than ever – 33 degrees today. It’s perhaps a good job that we off to the mountains at the weekend. This time of year, with slightly wetter weather, is also the worst for mosquitos, at least in my experience – but fewer of those up in the mountains too.

Meanwhile, the latest Covid statistics continue to show a presumed post-Carnivale surge. 702 new cases in the week to 18 March (compared to around 500 for each of the 2 previous weeks). There are now 2 people in ICU (there were none the week before), with 36 in other wards (down 6). Just 1 new fatality is reported. the test results figure also continues to rise – now at 4.4%, up from3.4% the week before.

21 MARCH 2023

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On 21 March, the US Congressional Research Service published an updated briefing, saying that a number of US criminal laws apply extraterritorially outside of the US.  Application is generally a question of legislative intent, express or implied.  There are 2 exceptions.  First, the statute must come within Congress’s constitutional authority to enact.  Second, neither the statute nor its application may violate due process or any other constitutional prohibition.  The CRS also issued an “Abbreviated Sketch” – an 8-page summary version.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/94-166

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RS/RS22497

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