Panama News Briefs, June/July 1998

Environmental Law Passed

Panama's Legislative Assembly passed comprehensive environmental legislation into on June 9, authorizing fines up to $10 million for violators and requiring environmental impact statements for all major projects such as mines and roads construction. The law allows increased participation by non-governmental environmental groups. It also includes a pair of clauses for the environmental protection of lands being reverted to Panama under the Canal Treaties. An attempt to pass environmental law two years ago was vetoed by President Pérez Balladares after mining interests objected to its penalties.

The legislation comes just in time. The Santa Rosa gold mine spilled cyanide into local streams and rivers in Veraguas province on June 6, the third such spill from the mine. Half of ton of fish were killed by the cyanide, in an area where . Ngobe indigenous and environmental groups have called for an end to mining activity in the region.

Sources: El Panamá América 6/10, La Prensa 6/18/98.

Bernal Prosecuted for Criticism of Police

Panamanian police chief José Luis Sosa brought Miguel Antonio Bernal, a caustic lawyer and former opponent of the Noriega regime, to court for libel on June 19, for having charged Panamanian police with some responsibility in the gruesome beheadings that took place in Coiba Penal Colony in January. But the case was suspended by the Tenth District Court, on a motion against the slander law’s constitutionality, with the courthouse overflowing with Bernal’s supporters.

Government prosecutors moved with unusual speed, recommending that Bernal be tried even though the official investigation of the Coiba murders had not been completed.

Sosa, a Cuban by birth, formed part of the CIA’s Bay of Pigs invasion force in 1961. Bernal is a prominent opponent of the government’s proposals for immediate reelection and for a continued U.S. military presence.

Sources: Communications from M.A. Bernal and Brittmarie Janson.