Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 07PANAMA788, PANAMA TO NEGROPONTE: WE WELCOME TRADE DEAL, BUT

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #07PANAMA788.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07PANAMA788 2007-05-15 17:38 2011-05-31 00:00 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Panama
VZCZCXYZ0026
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHZP #0788/01 1351738
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 151738Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY PANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0375
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 2582
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0330
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1130
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 0692
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000788 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN - TELLO 
ALSO FOR WHA/EPSC - SALAZAR AND MARTILOTTA 
ALSO FOR EB/TPP/BTA - LAMPRON 
STATE PASS USTR FOR SCHWAB, VERONEAU, EISSENSTAT, AND MALITO 
USDOC/MAC FOR GAISFORD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2017 
TAGS: ETRD ECON PREL PGOV ENRG UNSC OAS PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA TO NEGROPONTE: WE WELCOME TRADE DEAL, BUT 
NEED EDUCATION AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William A. Eaton - Reasons 1.4(b and d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  In separate May 11 encounters with Deputy 
Secretary of State John D. Negroponte, a cross-section of 
Panamanian business, civil society, and media leaders 
welcomed the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA). 
They cautioned, however, that Panama also had to reform its 
educational and judicial systems, among other institutional 
changes, to better use the TPA in addressing Panama's 
persistent poverty and wide income disparities.  End summary. 
 
Roundtable Members Fret Over Poverty & Poor Education 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
2.  (U) On May 11, the Deputy Secretary discussed trade and 
development issues with a cross-section of about a dozen 
business and civil society leaders.  Flanked by WHA Assistant 
Secretary Thomas A. Shannon and Ambassador William A. Eaton, 
the Deputy Secretary highlighted the evidence of significant 
growth and change he observed during his earlier stops in 
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.  His question about how a TPA 
with the U.S. might affect Panama sparked a 90-minute 
discussion that revealed broad acceptance of free trade, but 
also deep concern that endemic corruption, weak institutions, 
and inadequate education might keep the benefits of Panama's 
trade and economic growth from reaching the nearly 40 percent 
of Panamanians still mired in poverty and those struggling to 
narrow the country's wide income disparities. 
 
3.  (C) Former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Roxanna 
Castrellon said that, despite Panama's economic boom, many 
Panamanians remained stuck in poverty.  She attributed this 
phenomenon mainly to a continued lack of equal access to 
opportunities.  Castrellon pointed to increased security 
risks, especially in the Darien region bordering Colombia, as 
a result of the limited opportunities offered to many 
Panamanians.  Rosario Aguilar, a longtime aid worker in the 
Darien concurred, noting that most of the youth in Panama's 
largest, sparsely populated province saw few, if any, 
opportunities.  She said that some in the Darien had to 
journey 16 hours by canoe downriver to the nearest market, 
where they might earn $1 per 100 bananas, which wholesalers 
later turn around for $5 per 100.  As a result, she said, 
Darien residents were increasingly vulnerable to the lure of 
"easy money" offered by drug traffickers, despite the risks. 
 
4.  (C) Economist Alexis Soto suggested that Panama's 
continued dynamic of "growth without development" resulted 
from the poor linkage of booming economic sectors with 
impoverished communities.  He stressed that Panama had to 
better integrate its agricultural sector with the rest of an 
economy that had been historically driven by the Panama 
Canal.  A one-time TPA skeptic, Soto agreed with the Deputy 
Secretary on the job-creation prospects offered by the TPA. 
He felt that the TPA offered an adequate adjustment period 
for Panama's agricultural sector, but that much more was 
needed to "fully integrate" this sector with the overall 
economy. 
 
5.  (C) Business leaders such as AmCham President Carlos 
Urriola, CONEP ("Chamber of Chambers") President Jose Javier 
Rivera, and retail & finance executive Felix Maduro each 
stressed Panama's lack of skilled labor as a critical barrier 
to ensuring that the TPA delivered results.  They said that 
Panamanian employers stood ready to hire thousands of 
additional employees, but could not find nearly enough 
qualified workers.  As a result, they worried about the need 
to bring in foreign workers, e.g., for the maritime sector 
(Panama Canal expansion), which could cause serious social 
problems. 
 
6.  (C) Others, such as law professor Miguel Antonio Bernal 
and Transparency International's Executive Director Angelica 
Maytin, pointed to corruption and weak rule of law as the 
primary impediments to Panama's development.  Bernal welcomed 
the TPA, but warned that the country would not advance amid 
the GOP's erosion of civil liberties, rampant corruption in 
the judiciary, and the "virtual return" of ex-dictator Manuel 
Noriega in the form of former Noriega allies who now held 
some key GOP posts.  Likewise, Gertrudes Sires, who leads an 
indigenous women's association in a Ngobe Bugle comarca (akin 
to an Indian reservation) said that corruption at local 
levels prevented wealth from reaching the base of Panamanian 
society.  She called for greater capacity building for 
indigenous women to better serve as watchdogs over 
expenditures for local development programs in their 
communities. 
 
7.  (C) Agricultural exporter Francisco Atunez bemoaned the 
existence of poverty and starvation in a country that enjoys 
enormous natural wealth.  Environmental activist Raisa 
Banfield concurred, illustrating the point with a Panamanian 
fairy tale about a small cockroach that found a dollar bill, 
but did not have a clue about what to do with it. 
Panamanians, she said, did not yet know the rich biodiversity 
the country had and, as a result, had not developed anything 
resembling an integral plan for sustainable development. 
 
Top Opinion Leaders Focus on "Institutionality" 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
8.  (C) The Deputy Secretary's two-hour dinner with a smaller 
slice of business, civil society, and media opinion leaders 
revealed a similar consensus that corruption and weak 
institutions could hinder Panama's gains from a TPA with the 
U.S.  Alfredo Castillero Hoyos, a former Foreign Ministry 
official and UNDP consultant, typified the group's welcoming 
of the TPA, but with the caveat that deep institutional 
reforms would be needed before the deal could have its 
desired impact for ordinary Panamanians.  He pointed to the 
GOP's rejection of bad news, such as a recent UNDP report on 
starvation in the Darien, as indicative of the government's 
unwillingness to meet its institutional challenges 
forthrightly.  Former OAS Ambassador and current U.S.-Panama 
Association President Enrique de Obarrio noted that this 
concern prompted Panama's leading association of business 
executives to focus its May 16-18 annual conference on the 
country's lack of "institutionality."  Magaly Castillo, 
leader of a top judicial reform advocacy group ("Alianza 
Ciudadana Pro Justicia") stressed that stronger rule of law 
was a must to advance Panama's development. 
 
9.  (C) Others, such as ex-Panama Chamber of Commerce 
President Diego Eleta, worried that a drift in USG focus on 
Latin America and/or failure to ratify free trade deals with 
Colombia, Peru, and Panama would further embolden those who 
advocate populist and/or authoritarian approaches to 
addressing the region's development needs.  Eleta welcomed 
the Deputy Secretary's visit to the region as an encouraging 
sign of stronger U.S. engagement. 
 
10.  (C) Several participants pointed to the persistence of 
poverty in the Darien region as a key worry and as emblematic 
of Panama's development challenges.  Lawyer and former WTO 
Ambassador Carlos Ernesto Gonzales stressed that "it is up to 
us" to solve Panama's poverty problems.  He said that the 
GOP, by creating indigenous comarcas over the past few 
decades, effectively condemned indigenous groups to perpetual 
extreme poverty, as they could not usefully capitalize on 
commonly held comarca lands.  While noting the importance of 
education, "Panama America" newspaper executive Guido 
Rodriguez and others suggested that the Darien was unlikely 
 
to see any change until Panamanians figured out how to 
integrate it with the rest of the country.  (Gonzales noted 
wryly that the Spanish, despite establishing their first 
foothold in the hemisphere in Panama, were never able to 
control the Darien.)  Meanwhile,  a GOP and UNDP effort to 
promote a "national dialog" toward creating a national 
development plan was, according to de Obarrio, "going nowhere 
fast." 
 
11.  (U) This message was cleared by the Deputy Secretary's 
delegation. 
EATON