Panamanian Jurist Advocates for National Sovereignty

The several times decorated Panamanian jurist Alma Montenegro de Fletcher today advocated for the defense of Panama's sovereignty over its territory and rejected the veiled threats of military intervention by the United States in the hemisphere. Montenegro de Fletcher made her statements after receiving an honorary doctorate and a medal in a ceremony held at the University of the Americas (UDELAS), in recognition of her long academic, professional, and social career. The honoree recalled that UDELAS was created by Law 40 of November 18, 1997, on the lands of Albrook, in the dismantled Panama Canal Zone, in compliance with the Torrijos-Carter Panama Canal Treaties. Some 60,000 highly trained professionals have graduated from its classrooms. Montenegro de Fletcher, recognized in 2020 by Forbes magazine as one of the most influential Panamanians in Central America, recalled that the struggle of generations allowed for the recovery of the US bases, which were progressively converted into universities for development. She emphasized that everyone must understand the new dangers and threats arising in Latin America and the Caribbean as a result of Washington's offensive plans against Venezuela. She argued that in a planned attack on Venezuela, Panamanians would suffer the consequences, so it is necessary to prioritize the path of peace and not war. In her speech, the speaker remembered the struggle for sovereign recovery undertaken by General Omar Torrijos, as part of a process of national liberation and territorial integrity that ended the foreign military enclave that threatened peoples and brother countries. Montenegro de Fletcher is remembered for having introduced the Chapter on the Family in the 1972 Constitutional Reform, and for being the first woman to hold the position of a notary public and Attorney General of the Republic. Likewise, she has stood out as a representative of Panama in the United Nations in the instances of defense and promotion of women's rights, as an active militant of the former National Federation of Democratic Women of Panama (FENAMUDE) and a manager of the modernization and municipal development in this country. The rector of UDELAS, Nicolasa Terreros, presents the recognition to the Dr.