expatplayer

Who is your favorite President or leader in Panama's history? Who do you think lead this country the best?

ccsraj

Martin Torrijios the current president is the best.

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tallman33

From what I know about him, I like him. What do you think he is the best?

ccsraj

less corruption, create more jobs and improve security

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themark

I have to say that creating more jobs is one of the best things a President or political leader can do.

ankuranks

i think jose antonio remon is the best one till date,he made good decision saved panama from getting into the world war during the time of pearl harbor incident.

nuaeman

Supposed to be Martin Torrijios . Im not really know him verywell but I heard he is good guy.

zhinghur

Yeah, it is because of him ,the country sustained , arguing spontaneously with the U.S President. However, his dead remained mysterious.

Panamax

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Latortura

What about Tomás Herrera (1804–54) who was the Guy that led the Republican movement and is a great heroic figure for Panamanians? He loks like a cool Geezer to me.

panama.woman80

I am in no position to bad mouth President Martin Torrijos, because I havent lived in Panama for the past years. But I tell you what, it makes me wonder how much he has diminished corruption in my country. Torrijos is the son of Omar Torrijos, who used to be best buddies and partner with Noriega, politically speaking. All Noriega's followers were from the PRD Party and this is the same Party Martin Torrijos belongs to. PRD and followers supported Noriega, stole money and were totally corrupted.
Some people that were with Noriega back in the days (right hand of Noriega), like Balbina Herrera, are the number one buddies of Martin Torrijos now, or at least thats how it was before i moved here.

I know there might be some people that will hate me for saying this. People who somehow took advantage of the opportunities for corruption.

soltero

The blue-collar locals don't much care for Martin Torrijos; they see him as benefitting the upper classes -- creating 20+ new millionaires among his inner circle -- and not doing enough to help the masses. The biggest hero among leaders in recent memory is, by far, Omar Torrijos. The rich folks don't like him as much, but the masses love(d) him. In fact, one of the current presidential candidates, Balbina Herrera, is using the slogan "Torrijista de corazon."

panama.woman80

I can see that you obviously are PRD and that probably got some too. For the record, blue-collar locals are MAINLY PRD.... supporting Torrijos, Noriega, Balbina and all that clan.
And yeah, Torrijos has defenetly give us more money and more business but under all that theres the major corruption that you dont even know about.

soltero

"Obviously," nothing. Please don't assume.

I support no party nor candidate; that would be illegal.

I certainly *do* know about the corruption, thank you very much -- it's a constant topic of conversation (and virtually a way of life) down here, as I'm sure you know.

And, while I respect your views, please respect the opinions of my many Panamanian friends -- *none* of whom are rich, and most just scraping buy on $500-800/month -- who are not fans of Martin Torrijos but revere Omar Torrijos. I am *not* reporting my opinion -- I try to not do that on internet boards -- I am only reporting what I hear, first-hand. If you talk to a different group of people with a different set of views, fine -- that is what makes the world interesting.

panama.woman80

Fine, I'm not trying to agree with u, I'm not trying to be rude to you but you would consider starting your statements saying I heard that.. instead of posting the information like thats how things are, when you only heard one part of the story, then you cant know the whole story.
And forums are to express yourself, that means that i have all the rights to write what i think, feel and desire. You should respect my point of view also, instead of trying to prove me wrong.

soltero

My goodness, PanamaWoman, didn't I say that I respect your views? (Yes.)

One can only report (or post) based on one's own experience. It should be obvious that anything I say comes from my conversations, experiences, and reading. But I am in Panama, I live here permanently, and I do have many Panamanian friends.

That is not to say that my posts are any more "right" or "wrong" than anyone else's, but neither should they be dismissed as you did: Saying that I am "obviously PRD" and "got some," and that I know nothing about corruption. Those are the comments that are out of line, considering you have never met me or had any kind of conversation with me.

To start everything with "I heard that..." is both nonsensical and, in this case, not correct. I didn't hear what I posted in #12 second-hand, from some distant observor; I got it from direct, face-to-face conversations.

(E.g., a couple of weeks ago in Penónome, the guys I was hanging out with in a local bar pointed to a mangy dog lying on the floor and said that it would be a better president than Martin Torrijos. That became the joke of the night: They would point at the dog and yell "Martin!" every 15 minutes.)

Look, in another thread, you and I happen to disagree about beaches. So what? You like one that I don't, I like one that you don't. I don't take that personally, nor should you. But if I said -- and I never would say this -- that you are ignorant about beaches, or that you only know or heard one part of the story, or that you obviously don't know beaches, well, then, that would be rude. But again, I would not say that; in fact, I am now curious and motivated to visit Isla Mamey, based on your recommendation of the place.

panama.woman80

Okay, Soltero. You win, Ill back off. This issue is way too controversial Im going to sit back, relax and read only. No hard feelings lol

panama.woman80

Hopefully some folks here know how to speak and read spanish, specially the ones living in panama.. here are some facts about Balbina Herrera, you might find interesting if you can understand.
I did NOT write this, but i found it very interesting for those who think she is a wonderful woman and a prospect for President:
Subject: BALBINA HISTORIA DE TERROR Y DESACIERTOS
Importance: High

Para los que tienen mala memoria...



BALBINA UNA HISTORIA DE TERROR Y DESACIERTOS <http://aguijoneando.blogspot.com/2008/05/balbina-una-historia-de-terror-y.html> Balbina Herrera –que se llamaba Balbina de Periñán, cuando era una destacada colaboradora de la narcodictadura- tiene muchas debilidades y limitaciones. Nos dice la antropóloga Brittmarie Janson Pérez: 'Además de las Fuerzas de Defensa, los residentes del densamente poblado sector de San Miguelito tenían un control adicional: las pandillas paramilitares encabezadas por la alcaldesa de San Miguelito, Balbina de Periñán, su esposo, Virgilio, y los legisladores del PRD y PALA, Luis Gómez y Harmodio Icaza (La Estrella, 1 de septiembre 1987:11,12)'. Cuando faltaban pocos meses para que se acabara la narcodictadura, le hicieron una apología a Balbina.

¿Balbina no decía 'civilista visto, civilista muerto'? ¿No se le siguió proceso penal por el crimen del Sr. Baules? ¿No fue señalada por la desaparición de la estatua de Roosevelt? ¿No fue mencionada en el caso CEMIS? ¿No fue citado Hugo Torrijos, el jefe de campaña de Balbina, en el caso PEC? ¿Balbina no fue la promotora de la ley que encareció los medicamentos?
ha sabido eludir toda referencia a su pasado norieguista y a su pésima actuación como Ministra, pero no es 'de corazón', dado que 'la palabra es para decir la verdad, no para encubrirla'Balbina ha sido la figura más prominente del actual gobierno, por lo que tiene una buena cuota de responsabilidad en ese deterioro.
Durante el gobierno de Torrijos, se ha agudizado el caos en la capital, donde en 2007, el MIVI -dirigido por Balbina- aprobó permisos de construcción por un valor superior a los 2 mil millones de balboas, sin que se haya creado la infraestructura necesaria para ello. En una ciudad donde la escasez de agua ya es crítica, estas nuevas construcciones provocarán una mayor escasez en la población de menores ingresos, ya que los nuevos edificios tendrán grandes depósitos de agua.
Gracias a los cambios de zonificación (cambio de uso de suelo) en San Francisco, Bethania, etc. -autorizados por el MIVI-, y la construcción de edificios en Punta Pacífica y rascacielos en la avenida Balboa, habrá un aumento en la cantidad de personas por hectárea, sin que se haya creado la infraestructura necesaria, o sea, sin tener el correspondiente aumento en la capacidad de acueductos, alcantarillados, avenidas, aceras, energía eléctrica, etc.
Balbina, en vez de solucionar los problemas habitacionales y urbanísticos, los ha incrementado, gracias a que ha sido muy complaciente con los promotores, algunos de los cuales están planeando rellenar las áreas inundables y parte del manglar existente entre Costa del Este y el aeropuerto, para construir casas, campos de golf y parques industriales.
Se está revaluando la zonificación del área, la cual actualmente protege los manglares y áreas inundables, para permitir el desarrollo en los humedales costeros.
¿Balbina no ha demostrado con creces su desinterés en solucionar los problemas habitacionales y urbanísticos del país?
La costosa campaña publicitaria de Balbina ha sabido eludir toda referencia a su pasado norieguista y a su pésima actuación como Ministra, pero no es 'de corazón', dado que 'la palabra es para decir la verdad, no para encubrirla'

BALBINA SALIO APAMBINCHADA EN DEBATE ABIERTO <http://aguijoneando.blogspot.com/2008/05/balbina-salio-apambinchada-en-debate.html> El día de ayer, no se inició muy bien para la pre-candidata Balbina, debido a que tuvo varios enfrentamientos individuales, iniciando el primer round con Alberto Vallarino, el cual la desdibujó con sus certeras críticas, provocando como es ya costumbre su comportamiento violento y agresivo, le siguió Ricardo Martinelli que señaló que los Parvis eran solo repartidos a miembros del PRD.
Una de las respuestas de Balbina fue que ella trabajaba 24 horas política, a lo cual le respondió uno de los panelistas que entonces no tenía tiempo para aprender a administrar. El último asalto le quedó a Juan Carlos Navarro, tratando el tema de la falta de credibilidad de los políticos a lo que el señaló que el era un hombre de palabra, que lo que el promete lo cumple, en clara alusión a la conducta zigzagueante de la pre-candidata Herrera, lo cual provocó que saliera criticando el programa, al presentador y a la televisora, y aun más descontrolo su comportamiento violento la presentación de vistas de las inscripciones del PRD, en donde solo aparecía Juan Carlos Navarro.
Algunos seguidores e inclusive gente de su equipo de campaña están sumamente preocupados por el espectáculo bochornoso que pudiera presentar la Ingeniera, debido a su incontrolable espiritu violento, que parece que lo trae desde hace muchos años atrás cuando laboraba en el IFARHU y se le veía llena de moretones los cuales sus excompañeros asumían que eran de trifulcas que protagonizaba la hoy pre-candidata.

www.cholamentirosa.8m.net <http://www.cholamentirosa.8m.net/>

www.aguijoneando.blogspot.com <http://www.aguijoneando.blogspot.com/>

abhishek_513

Guillermo Endara is my favourite