Panama: a racket with tremendous implications Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit solurce - Eric Jackson Panama: a racket with tremendous implications In today's lead story in El Panama America, there is the tale that follows, of four Panamanian cops, three of them from the SPI presidential guard, who are accused of trying to steal weapons from the government's new stash and sell them to Colombian guerrillas. There is probably a lot more to this story. The other night a colleague with sources in or close to FARC told me something similar, from the point of view of that source. Being unconfirmed, the scoop didn't run --- and FARC is, after all, not an especially reliable source. That other version is this: Panama has recently acquired claymore mines (very handy if a Darien police station with six cops is set upon by a FARC or AUC force of 200 or more, as has happened) and shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles (something Panama needs to defend the canal against an attack in the style of the assault on the World Trade Center). A Panamanian cop was offering not just AK-47s, but these mines and missiles, to FARC. Or so it was said. Do we want to get into blame? It would be hard to do so without taking cheap shots. After all, the Panamanian government did step in and bust alleged culprits here. And yet, we have corruption that has pervaded the entire Moscoso administration, from top to bottom. Seamen's papers are for sale, regardless of the damage that it does to Panama's crucial maritime industry, and nobody is disciplined for it. Panama's coast guard (the SMN) was ordered into action by highter-ups to sink a floating aircraft in furtherance of a $1.8 million helicopter insurance fraud scam, doing immense damage to this country's efforts to establish itself as an important world insurance center. And on and on and on.... Now we have the protection of the canal, Panama's autonomy from Colombia's never-ending civil war, and this country's relations with the United States all held hostage to petty-minded sleaze. It's the sort of thing for which presidents might be deposed. Eric ~~~~~ Agentes del SPI intentaron vender armas a guerrilla La Fiscalma Auxiliar mantiene bajo investigacisn a tres agentes del Servicio de Proteccisn Institucional (SPI) y a uno de la Policma Nacional, vinculados a un presunto intento de venta ilegal de armas y de espionaje contra funcionarios gubernamentales. Juan Manuel Dmaz C. El Panama Amirica Una fuente ligada a las investigaciones revels que la pasada semana se ejecuts el arresto de los agentes del SPI, cuando presuntamente intentaron hurtar, de las instalaciones de esa institucisn ubicadas en Corozal, fusiles AK-47 que posteriormente serman enviados hacia la frontera con Colombia para ser vendidos a grupos insurgentes. Segzn la fuente, uno de los agentes golpes a un vigilante de la armerma para intentar sacar los fusiles de asalto, para luego enviarlos hacia la frontera en donde mantenma como contacto a un agente de la Policma. Explics que los agentes del SPI fueron separados del cargo y puestos a srdenes de la Fiscalma Auxiliar en donde se les instruye un sumario por el presunto delito de tentativa de robo con agravantes. En las pesquisas realizadas por las autoridades se logrs ubicar un cuchillo y un pasamontaqas con el cual uno de los agentes del SPI pretendma ocultar su identidad al momento de ejecutar el asalto en la armerma. Tambiin se informs que al intentar sustraer los fusiles uno de los centinelas recibis un golpe en la cabeza con un tubo, pero logrs reaccionar y luchs con los agresores para dar la voz de alerta. Otras fuentes seqalaron que tambiin se investiga la presunta participacisn de algunos agentes en un intento de espionaje en contra de funcionarios gubernamentales, entre los que se incluirma a algunos con altos cargos. Este serma el segundo caso de espionaje investigado por las autoridades, luego que hace un par de meses se detectara a una persona grabando conversaciones de los correos de voz de los celulares de ministros, viceministros y otros funcionarios. Sin embargo, esta investigacisn fue suspendida y el expediente fue archivado sin la aplicacisn de ningzn tipo de sancisn. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-10.09.01-02:32:57-28427