Time to deliver the Panamanian Oscars. Oscar for the most beaten trailer: Bioethanol, the return of the scam. We've seen this plot with Ricardo Martinelli, but its relaunch comes with an amplified soundtrack: the more a public official appears, the more they try to sell the law as indispensable. Panamanian politics is worthy of an extensive film lineup. What seemed like a meeting of the U.S. president's subordinates could have paralyzed him with stage fright. For good reason, he seeks re-election. But there are other supporting actors who often go unnoticed. Except when reality and fiction blend in performances worthy of their own statuette. Dramatic and opaque performances, and whimsical and harmful legislative initiatives, were left out. That's how strong the script is. Oscar for the most predictable sequel: one payroll after another. Starring Jorge Herrera, who promised to cut spending and reduce the payroll... and turned it into his main work. A particularly miserable performance stands out: the head of ACODECO, who went from warning in writing that the law violated the Constitution and consumer freedom to defending it. Mr. President, less catharsis and more caution. Bravado doesn't help Panama in a scenario where it must act as if there is a separation of powers. Oscar for the non-existent performance: the Minister of MIDES, Beatriz Carles. In a crisis marked by serious complaints — mistreatment, neglect, and possible abuses in Senniaf centers — the head of MIDES has left the stage empty. Her absence is so notable that thirteen organizations are calling for her resignation. Just when it's time to measure words, her uncontrollable verbiage appears, with the danger of weakening Panama's position in the arbitration court. PPC left the ports because the Supreme Court — not the Executive — declared the contract unconstitutional. The script is known: conflicts of interests everywhere, mandatory use of ethanol, and a multimillion-dollar business for importers and mill owners, among whom are the Comptroller, cabinet members, and the convicted former president who cheers them on from Colombia. The controversial project just passed its first debate and is already being promoted as a solution to the oil price hike caused by the war. We are in the month of the Oscars, the one where many seek refuge in fiction to escape reality. With a tremendous media show, he promised to expose the payrolls and end the 'bottles.' The increase in the legislative budget demonstrates his capacity for politicking. Closing the cast is the Comptroller Aniel Bolo Flores. Pure special effects with no happy ending. Oscar for the most inconsistent performances: José Raúl Mulino. A president who stays silent when he should speak... and speaks when he should be silent. The first: his silence in the face of false and humiliating statements by Trump about the Panama Canal. The Assembly cannot increase its budget on its own. But Mulino boasts in public to the contrary: 'You made a mistake with the president and the government,' he confessed to having warned them. Send your nominations: this is just the beginning. Nothing: no press release, no interview, no clarification. The key to the money is held by the government through the Minister of Economy and Finance, an accomplice in this clientelistic party. The barrage of excuses to justify the unjustifiable shows his histrionic ability. But what about after? And unless a miracle happens that day, the first lady's friend might be thinking of a more honorable exit. There is material for many more awards, but this ceremony — and this column — have limited time and space. The collaboration is so harmonious that Aguadulce, the political fiefdom of the President of the Assembly, is one of the municipalities awarded for the parallel 2.0 decentralization. His omission of duties goes beyond what happened at the Tocumen CAI: reports speak of repeated failures and operational deficiencies. With a sustained trajectory in this category, two recent scenes are enough to confirm it. That is the country's main defense. Carles must appear before the Assembly on April 1st. Silence. The opposite happens when it comes to the legal dispute with CK Hutchison.
