Martín Torrijos (Chitré, 60 years old), who already governed Panama between 2004 and 2009, is seeking the Presidency again in this Sunday’s elections. But now he does it for the minority Popular Party (PP), far from the historic Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) founded by his father, General Omar Torrijos, the ruler who in 1977 signed with the then president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, the treaty that returned sovereignty over the canal to the country.
The leader of the polls is José Raúl Mulino, the replacement for the convicted and disqualified former president Ricardo Martinelli, a candidacy endorsed only this Friday by the Supreme Court of Justice, which dismissed a claim of unconstitutionality. Torrijos, however, is optimistic. “I feel that there are going to be surprises,” he points out, appealing to the most immediate antecedents in this interview with EL PAÍS, granted a few hours before the elections.
Ask. Between the label of former president and that of candidate, which one do you feel most comfortable with?
Answer. I like the candidate, because I found myself again. The commitment to enter to transform the country, to fight, to start a battle again, is given to you by the candidacy. The role of former president of the Republic is another issue.
Q. What is Panama at stake in this election?
R. All. Panama is risking the beginning of the pact of impunity, that ‘I protect you, you protect me’, or the retaking of the country. We talk about social justice, about a country that works. This country is not working. That is what is at stake. The retake or loss of the country.
Q. The latest polls put his main opponent, José Raúl Mulino, ahead. If he wins at the polls, will he recognize that victory?
R. Of course, at the end of the day, there are no doubts. Democratic commitment is this. But I feel that there are going to be surprises, that what is reflected in the polls is not what is happening. And there have been two elections where the result has been very contrary to what the polls expressed.
Q. Do you think that this designation should have been declared unconstitutional?
R. Regardless of the legal criteria, what should not have been is that the process took as long as reaching two days before the election. Both the Electoral Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Justice had enough time to resolve the legal problems and not let them mix with electoral times.
Q. If you win, you know that governing is not going to be easy, as has been seen in this campaign. How would you deal with the sectors that still support former president Ricardo Martinelli?
R. After the election there must be a reset of politics in this country. Martinelli, since leaving the Presidency, has hijacked the country’s political and media agenda based on its electoral processes. We must put the country according to its problems. And one of them is Martinelli. Now we have to turn the page of justice, and he has to operate. On the other hand, we have to sit down and look at how we unify the country to resolve the serious crises that we are experiencing in every sense, economic and social. There is an urgency for citizens who do not have their basic demands satisfied.
Q. How do you explain that Martinelli maintains high levels of popularity despite being convicted of corruption?
R. Today I heard an expression that I had not heard: it is the illusion of the pocket. It is the memory of a time, indeed, after having made the reforms in my Government, of abundance. Of a greater degree of opportunities for the country. Everything was gone in infrastructure. I’m not saying they are bad, but all the infrastructure that was built then is bathed in a blanket of corruption. Along with the deterioration that occurred in the two subsequent governments, there is great disillusionment and a great demand to improve the living conditions of Panamanians in a very, very unequal society. Between abundance and inequality, they cloud all the rest of the reasons why Martinelli should not be in politics.
Q. He has said that the expansion of the canal united Panama, and that he intends to unite the country again. Which project would be the reason for unity if you got a new mandate?
R. The solution to an aggravated crisis forces us to agree. Panama has to take all actions to guarantee that it will be the regional logistics power. Not just the canal, the entire country has to be a logistics center. There is no other country in the region that has the characteristics of Panama, with such proximity between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. We can have two or three dry canals within a very short distance, with which no one would compete.
Q. How do you plan to confront the water crisis that also affects the Panama Canal?
Q. The water crisis we have now is the product of not having made decisions in time. There is enough water to guarantee human consumption and the operation of the canal. We must expand the basin, with this expansion we guarantee water for many more years and a greater flow of traffic through the canal, thinking towards the future.
Q. What does the channel represent for Panamanian national identity?
R. A lot. It is the effort that united us for a century to fight for the recovery of our sovereignty. This is what today, with the expanded canal, gives us the possibility of achieving greater development, greater well-being for Panamanians. Now we have to bring all logistics-related businesses to this country, not just passing ships and cargoes.
Q. Do you intend to conclude the closure of the Minera Panamá copper mine, despite the economic impact that this entails for the country?
R. There is already a decision, endorsed by the Supreme Court of Justice and by the will of the Panamanians, so that is a fact.
Q. Does it close the door for Panama to have future mining developments?
R. That’s how it is. It is already established that Panama will not have open pit metal mining.
Q. What can be done to address the humanitarian emergency that the migratory flow in the Darién Gap has become?
R. No country can think that it will solve the immigration problem alone and unilaterally. A regional approach is needed. Migrants must be guaranteed all their rights, and that requires it to be seen from a regional perspective that has not been done until now.
Q. Who would we try to approach within the region to strengthen the governance that is so needed?
R. We have the obligation to have a good relationship with our neighbors. The relationship with Colombia, Costa Rica and Central America is fundamental. That role that Panama has played at other times, that of generating trust and some form or another of consensus within international politics, is important in the coming years.
Q. Is Panama becoming ungovernable?
R. After this election, if we don’t solve the problems, yes.
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