On January 18 of this year, eight months ago, (https://www.presidencia.gob.pa/Noticias/Presidente-Cortizo-Cohen-anuncia-culminacion-de-negociaciones-con-Minera-Panama- a proud President Cortizo announced with great fanfare that he had just completed negotiations with the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals, owner of the copper mine operated by Minera Panamá, SA, in the province of Colón.

According to the president, Panama has claimed ownership of its precious mineral deposits, ending a harmful contract, declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Justice since 2017, which only brought Panama a royalty of 2% of what he exploited in ores in the productive mine. In reality, after the income tax deductions used by the mining company, such a percentage meant just over 1.5% for Panamanian coffers, totaling less than $30 million annually.

According to Cortizo, the successful arrangement was to receive at least 10 times more than he paid Panama, the Canadian mining predator, currently controlled by companies from the People’s Republic of China and without a valid contract with the country. According to what he explained, the estimate to be paid would be 375 million dollars per year, which could go up to 400 million dollars.

For the government, it was a great success, attributed to the skill of its negotiators. But, for those who know the subject, they had to pay much more for Panama to own the resource, providing the technology and commercialization, regardless of the environmental damage that its exploitation generates. Also, as a country, we have no control if they sell what they produce to their own company, and therefore end up paying us less.

While in the National Assembly there is a bill that would establish that 49% of the shares of the mining company would be for Panama, an additional 49% for investors and 2% for workers, similar to what Pérez Balladares did with Cable & Wireless, as the state retained 49% of the public telephone company’s stock.

Subsequently, March 18 Cortizo, https://www.presidencia.gob.pa/Noticias/Cortizo-anuncia-que-el-50-de-ingresos-minimos-anuales-por-la-extraccion-de-cobre -seran-para-el-IVM-de-la-CSS, surrounded by his ministers, announced the “commendable” use that his government would make of these revenues, stressing that the first year, supposedly 2022, 190 million dollars would be allocated to the Social Security Fund to make up for the worrying deficit reflected in its programs, where a few days ago its director general indicated that the reserves to honor retirements would reach until 2023.

What you find on the internet about First Quantum Minerals, https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20180321/441782998920/zambia-pide-casi-8000-millones-dolares-a-minera-canadiense-por-fiscal -fraud .html, says their mining operation in Panama is one of the most profitable in the world, where they have faced heavy fines for their operations in Zambia and for aquifer and environmental issues in Spain.

It is known that this mine here could have served as a guarantee to face the problems in the world negotiations, according to the newspaper La Prensa of October 15, 2021, https://www.prensa.com/impresa/economia/minera-first – quantum -obtains-financing-for-2-925-millions/, and thus possibly be able to pay its debts elsewhere. While with the fair royalties that should be paid to us, we could repay our heavy foreign debt, what has happened in practice is that these bargained resources have been used by the Chinese-Canadian transnational to consolidate its finances .

The scourge of all this is that more than eight months after the contract has still not been sent to the National Assembly for approval or rejection. During this period, we stopped receiving approximately $250 million, which could have contributed to the great social and economic crisis experienced by Panamanians in recent months and fulfilled the presidential promise to give $190 million to security. social this year.

On July 18, Minera Panama announced shipment number 100, according to a sponsored post on the FocoPanamá website https://focopanama.com/100-barcos-exportados-con-cobre-panameno/, despite no contract that protects him to make these exports.

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: was this lack of interest in ending the abuses that Minera Panama has been subjecting us to for years been fueled by Canadian opportunists, now Chinese, or is it Is this the result of a president who, concerned with everything but governing, doesn’t diligently attend to the affairs of state, such as curbing those who appropriate our country’s natural resources? Or is there something going on under the table that we don’t know about?

Suddenly, because I’m so detailed and because of the disastrous record of our leaders, I’m about to think the worst.

Lawyer and politician