Panama’s steep payment for its past

Scott Hartman If we don't like what Panama is doing why don't we just take a page from the Ronald Reagan/GHW Bush playbook and kidnap their president, accuse him of selling cocaine and put him in an American jail.

• 2013-02-15 09:42:18

Gary Tucker Too bad that Panama, Columbia, Venezuela and Ecuador could not bring themselves to reconstitute Gran Columbia. (Or perhaps something like Gran Tierra now) The nation created by the legendary Simon Bolivar was doomed in its early years only because of the absolute lack of adequate transportation infrastructure between the vast distances. Isolation of the many parts killed the whole. The debate over central or regional power never was resolved until disunity. This is something that is of little concern today. The immense diversity of economic activity that all four countries would bring to a single economic market would be incredible. Even the diversity of left and right would bring a dynamic to the political debate that, would, over time, create an even better nation. The scale of such a Gran Columbia (Tierra) would help compete against regional and international countries with much more diverse and populated economies. Alas but a dream.

• 2013-01-26 15:38:48