Security fears on the rise

PANAMA. Violence, drug-trafficking, delincuency and money-laundering continue unabated in Panama.

The shooting of a tourist and a waiter in Casco Viejo.. five assasinations elsewhere this weekend.. the discovery of two men executed and stuffed into the trunk of their taxi earlier this week.. the bloodshed is relentless and a growing cause of concern to all residents, Panamanians and ex-pats.

So far this year, there have been a total of 10,000 crimes reported, of which 4,219 were armed robberies, 2,333 people wounded by various weapons, and 3,074 burglaries.

We’re told that the actual number of deaths by homicide are slightly down, but what does it matter when innocent people are so often the victims of violent crime?

It’s a reflection of how widespread drug trafficking, gangs and weapons have become that 67 youths between the ages of 15 and 19 have been killed so far this year.

To keep young people off the streets a curfew was imposed at the end of July and since then 1,750 youth have been rounded up after 9pm. But this doesn’t stop the crimes occuring between the hours of 6pm and 9 pm.

Already the first calls have gone out for the chief of police’s head. But after just two months in the job, can Gustavo Perez really be held responsible?

Panama is not the country it was when the security system was set up several decades ago. There are more criminals, and they are more expert, and the system needs to catch up to cope with the reality of what it has become.

President Martinelli, has a big task ahead.