As detailed beloew, one of the Mossack Fonseca pair has died, just as the court case involving their firm has ended in Panama, as the verdict is awaited. Ramón Fonseca Mora was 71 and came to fame, or infamy, depending on your view, in the wake of the “Panama Papers” leaks.
Meanwhile, another local name facing serious legal action has lost the partial immunity offered by being a National Assembly member for the ruling PRD. The legal protection available for members meant that her current case would have been heard by the Supreme Court, but having lost her seat in the recent election, and not obtained any other qualifying post that might have extended the protection, her case will now be heard by the ordinary court system. The case involved a man arrested in 2009 with 68 kg of gold at Tocumen Airport, the man then hiring the politician and lawyer in 2013 to undertake his defence.
Meanwhile, ratings agency Moody says that the new government will have to deal with the deterioration of the country’s fiscal situation, the closure of the Cobre Panama mine, the reduction of transits through the Canal due to the drought, salaries of public officials and the public pension system. Moody had downgraded Panama’s credit rating in October.
Spent the middle of the day on a lovely near-100 year old sail training vessel of the Spanish Navy. It was interesting to note that she was built to a British design, with Southampton-based naval architects. She was undertaking a round-the-world cruise to mark her centenary. I also noted that a Chilean vessel I was lucky enough to Visit a few years back was built in the 1950s to the same design. I just wonder if some of the many miles of rope aboard the vessel came from the ropery at Chatham, still in operation after some 400 years.
9 MAY 2024
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