Arrocha, a pragmatist who wants to promote Panama’s assets, including the controversial mine

The presidential candidate for free nomination, Melitón Arrocha, defines himself as a “pragmatic politician” willing to promote the strategic assets of Panama, including the controversy mine of copper closed in 2023, to face the storm that is seen on the horizon of the country that has been one of the countries with the greatest economic growth in Latin America.

Arrocha, 55 years old, former minister, former deputy and former ambassador, among other positions held over more than three decades in politics, acknowledges in an interview with EFE on the occasion of the elections on May 5 that Panama faces challenges “huge” linked to the economy, social development, national security and democratic governance, to mention the most pressing and for which it already has recipes.

These range from better and constant training of teachers to revive an educational system anchored in the past, to “close” the jungle border with Colombia to stop the irregular migration that moves north and that constitutes, as he said, a threat to national security both due to its links with organized crime and because of the million-dollar public funds it drains for its management.

The politician also considers that the next Government will have the “special opportunity to redirect democratic dialogue” to, among others, confront the corruption that is dangerously eroding the country’s democratic governance.

If you reach the government, “The first and most important measure in the fight against corruption is the implementation of the Administrative Career”precise.

Panama faces challenges as great as those of Arrocha’s own campaign, “small and with few resources” In his words, to get him out of the tail of the polls – barely 1.8% of voting intentions according to one released this March – and have a real chance of winning in the May elections.

Turn on all economic engines, including the mine

Arrocha, a lawyer by profession, highlights the advantages of Panama, such as its strategic position, the multimodal logistics system and its natural wealth, and states that “You can no longer continue living behind these strategic assets.”

Because this is what Panama has done, he assures, when despite its robust logistics and port system, re-exports with added value are not promoted, for which there is a law in force, promoted by him as he said, or when the large copper mine is closed. operated by the Canadian First Quatum Minerals, which came to represent 2% of global mineral production precisely in times of energy transition.

The mine concession contract was declared last November, as in 2017, unconstitutional by the Panamanian Supreme Court, this time in the midst of the largest social protests in decades.

Arrocha is convinced that the mining issue was the trigger for a quasi-social explosion against all of the country’s problems, “that the majority of people think that wealth must be generated” and that the mine can do this, which came to represent almost the 5% of the national gross domestic product (GDP), so its “position is to reopen that exploitation.”

The “immediate” economic reactivation proposed to reduce unemployment (7.4%) and informality (47.4%) It involves the debureaucratization of a hypertrophied State to “guarantee a public administration that helps citizens generate wealth” through entrepreneurship, and promote tourism.

Social Security and the Economic Outlook

Arrocha emphasizes that “there is a storm or tsunami on the horizon” economic crisis whose magnitude is still unknown – a product of the lack of cost containment, the increase in public debt, the closure of the mine and the social security crisis – but which undoubtedly poses a complicated situation for Panama.

The International Monetary Fund “He already recommended raising taxes” and the cost of debt indicates that “the market is beginning to discount that the country is going to lose investment grade”acknowledges the candidate.

In this context, he assures that his opponents “they are telling stories” when they say that the social security situation due to the imminent bankruptcy of one of its two pension subsystems is going to be resolved with patches, well the reality is that “It will require a degree of sacrifice on the part of the entire society,” what your administration is willing to assume.

The rating agencies and investment banks have lowered it to even less than 1% GDP growth for 2024, in what seems like the twilight of the phenomenon that placed this country, dependent on a service economy, as the one with the highest growth in Latin America for two decades with an average of 6% annual.

It may interest you