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        {"code":"27317","sect":"Central America","sect_slug":"central-america","hits":"1160","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202404\/centroamerica\/27317","link_edit":"","name":"After Months of Protest for Change in Panama, Old-School Faces Lead Sunday Elections","slug":"after-months-of-protest-for-change-in-panama-old-school-faces-lead-sunday-elections","info":"From his refuge in the Nicaraguan Embassy, convicted money launderer and former president Ricardo Martinelli is pulling the strings of the Sunday election in Panama. His party candidate, three-time government minister Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, leads the polls despite popular frustration with traditional corruption in politics and social decay. But the chance of a judicial decision affecting his candidacy could inject a last-minute surprise.","mtag":"Politics","noun":{"html":"Roman Gressier and Jos\u00e9 Luis Sanz","data":{"roman-gressier-and-jose-luis-sanz":{"sort":"","slug":"roman-gressier-and-jose-luis-sanz","path":"roman_gressier_and_jose_luis_sanz","name":"Roman Gressier and Jos\u00e9 Luis Sanz"}}},"view":"1160","pict":{"cms-image-000040418-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"40418","name":"cms-image-000040418.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040418.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040418.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040418-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Panamanian presidential candidate Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino speaks during his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. On screen, he stands next to former president Ricardo Martinelli, whom he replaced after the former president was barred from competing on the grounds of his July 2023 money laundering conviction. Panama will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 5. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EPanamanian presidential candidate Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino speaks during his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. On screen, he stands next to former president Ricardo Martinelli, whom he replaced after the former president was barred from competing on the grounds of his July 2023 money laundering conviction. Panama will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 5. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000040419-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"40419","name":"cms-image-000040419.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040419.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040419.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040419-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Supporters of Panama's presidential candidate for the Realizando Metas party, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, attend his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Panama will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 5. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ESupporters of Panama's presidential candidate for the Realizando Metas party, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, attend his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Panama will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 5. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000040420-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"40420","name":"cms-image-000040420.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040420.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040420.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040420-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli\u00a0(2009-2014), who sought asylum at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, gives an online speech in support of Panama's presidential candidate for his party's replacement candidate, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, during his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EPanama's former president Ricardo Martinelli\u00a0(2009-2014), who sought asylum at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, gives an online speech in support of Panama's presidential candidate for his party's replacement candidate, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, during his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000040421-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"40421","name":"cms-image-000040421.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040421.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040421.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040421-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against the contract for the Canadian mining company FQM in Panama City on Oct. 25, 2023. Protesters in the capital and other provinces condemned environmental damage from operations at the mine, one of the biggest copper extractors in the world. Photo Roberto Cisneros\/AFP&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EDemonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against the contract for the Canadian mining company FQM in Panama City on Oct. 25, 2023. Protesters in the capital and other provinces condemned environmental damage from operations at the mine, one of the biggest copper extractors in the world. Photo Roberto Cisneros\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":40418,"date":{"live":"2024\/04\/30"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2024","data_post_dateLive_MM":"04","data_post_dateLive_DD":"30","text":"\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-0299e669-7fff-c208-9f06-e6e69de63588\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #888888;\"\u003EEl Faro English translates Central America.\u003C\/span\u003E \u003Ca href=\"\/suscribe\/en\/\"\u003ESubscribe\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cspan style=\"color: #888888;\"\u003Eto our newsletter.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOn Sunday, May 5, Panamanians will hold elections amid turmoil unseen since the 1989 U.S. invasion and the subsequent transition from military rule. Topping the list of citizen concerns are \u003Cstrong\u003Epervasive political corruption, the high cost of living and medicine, a potable water crisis,\u003C\/strong\u003E budget shortfalls, unusual credit downgrading, and the lasting social detriment of two-dozen months of \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.tvn-2.com\/nacionales\/recuperacion-estandares-educativos-tardaria-11-anos-oei_1_2095636.html\"\u003Ecanceled public-school classes\u003C\/a\u003E since Covid-19.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThis is the most unprecedented, complex, and important election that Panamanian democracy has held in three decades, by far,\u201d argues Daniel Zovatto, Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and former Latin America Director at International IDEA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ELuis Botello, president and CEO of the Media for Democracy Foundation in Washington, DC, agrees: \u003Cstrong\u003E\u201cAt stake in these elections in Panama is the future of its democracy.\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ERecent years have seen a collapse of confidence in political and democratic institutions, echoing the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202402\/centroamerica\/27261\/%E2%80%9CAcademia-is-the-new-political-battlefield-in-Central-America%E2%80%9D.htm\"\u003Eerosion of legitimacy\u003C\/a\u003E in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and elsewhere in the hemisphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cIn the last year, the public learned how the current and past governments\u003Cstrong\u003E took money allocated to education to grant financial aid to family and friends\u003C\/strong\u003E with \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202404\/centroamerica\/27313\/the-private-club-that-governs-panama\"\u003Eclose ties to political and economic elites\u003C\/a\u003E,\u201d adds Botello.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EParadoxically \u2014and similar to the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202202\/centroamerica\/25995\/An-Electoral-Paradox-in-Costa-Rica.htm\"\u003E2022 vote in Costa Rica\u003C\/a\u003E, kindled by anti-system discontent\u2014 center-stage in the Panama elections is not an outsider, but the most familiar of faces: bombastic ex-president Ricardo Martinelli (2009-2014),\u003Cstrong\u003E famous for deploying \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/74OAZbQzanZzSqbQARtHkS\"\u003EPegasus spyware\u003C\/a\u003E on his rivals and mistress,\u003C\/strong\u003E but also commonly associated with years of relative prosperity now seen as a distant past. Despite being deported and sanctioned by the U.S., he tried to run for reelection, but was ultimately excluded this year due to his conviction last July on money laundering charges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMartinelli only dodged ten years\u2019 prison time by seeking \u003Cstrong\u003Easylum in the Nicaraguan Embassy, where he continues to campaign for his party substitute,\u003C\/strong\u003E Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, who held two top posts in the Martinelli administration as minister of Government and, later, Public Security. He also served as foreign minister from 1993 to 1994.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2612&ImageId=40419 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Supporters of Panama's presidential candidate for the Realizando Metas party, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, attend his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Panama will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 5. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Supporters of Panama's presidential candidate for the Realizando Metas party, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, attend his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Panama will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 5. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMulino now leads the polls with around 30 percent of prospective voters \u2014 a nonetheless \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/es\/am%C3%A9rica-latina\/20240427-panam%C3%A1-qui%C3%A9nes-son-los-candidatos-a-la-presidencia-y-qu%C3%A9-dicen-los-sondeos-sobre-ellos\"\u003Ewide margin\u003C\/a\u003E in a field of eight candidates. The other contenders include Martinelli\u2019s predecessor Mart\u00edn Torrijos (2004-2009), with 13 percent, and no-party candidate Ricardo Lombana, a lawyer who has worked extensively on freedom of expression. He has \u003Cstrong\u003Ebilled himself as apart from the blue-blood political and economic class\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2014\u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202404\/centroamerica\/27313\/The-Private-Club-That-Governs-Panama.htm\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003Erabiblancos\u003C\/em\u003E, in Panama-speak\u003C\/a\u003E\u2014 and is polling in second, around 15 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u201cA market first\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cMany see Mulino as the safer option, because he offers experience, a profile of repressing protests, and at the same time is the most economic-friendly,\u201d says Zovatto, but he avoids predicting a winner, speculating that, given the tight race, \u003Cstrong\u003Ea last-second judicial resolution could throw a wrench in the outcome.\u003C\/strong\u003E The Electoral Tribunal controversially allowed Mulino to run despite not competing in an internal primary, but it is unclear whether the Supreme Court will overturn that decision.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cThis election will be defined not in the final days, but in the final hours,\u201d argues Zovatto. \u201cIf the Supreme Court allows Mulino to participate, there is a high probability that he wins. If they take him out of play, whoever becomes president will have very diminished legitimacy because only the knocking-down of two competitors from the same political sector [Martinelli and Mulino] made it possible for them to win.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn any case, the Panamanian high court knows it must tread lightly, as the\u003Cstrong\u003E judicialization and uneven refereeing of elections in Central America have been a recipe for turmoil.\u003C\/strong\u003E The heavy hand of the courts in the Guatemalan elections last year, which included the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202306\/centroamerica\/26869\/list-of-presidential-candidates-unclear-24-days-before-guatemalan-elections\"\u003Eexclusion of three presidential contenders\u003C\/a\u003E just days from the first round of voting, was frontally condemned by the OAS. The scandal was further compounded by protracted efforts to bar Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo from the run-off and swearing-in in January.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2667&ImageId=40420 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli\u00a0(2009-2014), who sought asylum at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, gives an online speech in support of Panama's presidential candidate for his party's replacement candidate, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, during his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli\u00a0(2009-2014), who sought asylum at the Nicaraguan Embassy in Panama, gives an online speech in support of Panama's presidential candidate for his party's replacement candidate, Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino, during his campaign closing rally in Panama City on Apr. 28, 2024. Photo Mart\u00edn Bernetti\/AFP \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ECrucially, and contrary to the electoral systems across the rest of Central America \u2014except for Belize, which as part of the British Commonwealth has a Prime Minister\u2014 in Panama the\u003Cstrong\u003E presidency will be won by whoever gets the most votes in a single round of ballots.\u003C\/strong\u003E On Sunday the winner will take all, only to face a divided country with an economic elite accustomed to having a voice and vote in the biggest decisions. Amid the structural crisis, the possibility lingers for any change of faces to fail to change anything.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cUnlike other nations, the private sector in Panama has not so much co-opted the state as coexisted in harmony with it \u2014 when not in absolute identification,\u201d writes journalist Sol Laur\u00eda in her El Faro English chronicle published Monday, \u201c\u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202404\/centroamerica\/27313\/The-Private-Club-That-Governs-Panama.htm\"\u003EThe Private Club That Governs Panama\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d \u201cThe economic powers that be understood, across many moments of history, that democracy was secondary, because \u003Cstrong\u003EPanama, in its own conception, is a market first and a nation second.\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeneralized burnout\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESimilar to the disaffection roiling other political systems in the region, in Panama Latinobar\u00f3metro \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberglinea.com\/latinoamerica\/panama\/panamenos-insatisfechos-de-como-funciona-la-democracia-en-el-pais-latinbarometro\/\"\u003Efound last year\u003C\/a\u003E that some 83 percent of the population say they are unsatisfied with democracy. Another factor limits any clear predictions of outcome: \u003Cstrong\u003Esome 300,000 young people will be eligible to vote for the first time.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EPublic patience also sits on a razor\u2019s edge. The concession to a subsidiary of the Canadian firm First Quantum Minerals of Central America\u2019s largest copper mine, mirroring the fight over extractivism \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202403\/centroamerica\/27287\/despite-the-new-government-the-advance-of-mining-in-guatemala-is-already-decided\"\u003Eplaying out across Central America\u003C\/a\u003E, set off \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3XYS_FPuAco\"\u003Emass protests\u003C\/a\u003E last October.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cIn the past two years the country has seen \u003Cstrong\u003Etwo protest movements and social demonstrations, the largest in recent history,\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E says Zovatto. \u201cThese showed the deep discontent with democracy\u2026 This is an election of generalized burnout.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAs opposed to the most recent elections in El Salvador, Argentina, or Costa Rica, where a candidate channeled and came to embody social indignation, in Panama no single individual clearly carries that banner. Nor does there appear to be a minimum threshold of consensus on what a course correction should look like.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFor traditional elites, the mine remains a flashpoint: The cancellation of the contract, accounting for around one percent of total global copper production, was cited as a driving factor in late March when \u003Cstrong\u003Ethe international credit rating agency Fitch \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.fitchratings.com\/research\/banks\/fitch-takes-various-actions-on-panamanian-banks-following-sovereign-rating-downgrade-04-04-2024\"\u003Edowngraded\u003C\/a\u003E Panama\u2019s debt to \u201cjunk\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E, also citing increased spending since the pandemic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2703&ImageId=40421 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against the contract for the Canadian mining company FQM in Panama City on Oct. 25, 2023. Protesters in the capital and other provinces condemned environmental damage from operations at the mine, one of the biggest copper extractors in the world. Photo Roberto Cisneros\/AFP\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against the contract for the Canadian mining company FQM in Panama City on Oct. 25, 2023. Protesters in the capital and other provinces condemned environmental damage from operations at the mine, one of the biggest copper extractors in the world. Photo Roberto Cisneros\/AFP \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhile Mulino seems to be capitalizing on the conservative disaffection, there is no guarantee that he will return to the policies of Martinelli, now an international liability: \u201cIt\u2019s unclear what role the former president would play if Mulino wins,\u201d notes Botello. \u201cBut it would complicate relations with the U.S., who took away his visa for corruption.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cPanama could even become isolated,\u201d he continues, \u201cdrawing closer to Nicaragua, Venezuela, and China, who increased its commercial and diplomatic ties after President Juan Carlos Varela [2014-2019] cut relations with Taiwan in 2017. Chinese companies now control two of the entry ports to the Panama Canal.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EZovatto agrees that a victory for Martinelli\u2019s party would not lead to cut-and-dry outcomes. \u003Cstrong\u003E\u201cGoverning by proxy, with an excess of testosterone, ends poorly.\u003C\/strong\u003E Santos fought with Uribe [in Colombia], Len\u00edn Moreno with Correa [in Ecuador], and Arce with Evo [Morales in Bolivia]. Beware of these situations that at first seem to work out well, but in the end, not so much.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #888888;\"\u003EThis article first appeared in the April 25 edition of the El Faro English newsletter.\u003C\/span\u003E \u003Ca href=\"\/suscribe\/en\/\"\u003ESubscribe here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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