JUICY appointments to consular posts, often handed out to relatives of those in power in Panama will not be so juicy over the next five years and the State could benefit by up to $20 million as the government moves to curb excesses that have 

 been the target of complaints from business organizations.
Fees paid for issuing certificates and “per diem quotas" assigned to consulates will be reduced.
Business groups have regularly reiterated the lack of certainty over the income of the Panamanian consular representations and the absence of an official policy of accountability that contrast with their declared and real income.
Questions have also been raised in recent years over the appointment of relatives by successive governments in consular posts, where there is large scale commercial activity labeled "Juicy" by those vying for the posts.
The drying out of the fruit was announced by President Juan Carlos Varela on Friday, October 7.
Now it’s time to look at the perks awarded to Deputies in the National Assembly.
BY-ELECTION GRAB BAG - In spite of the stream of decisions by the Electoral Tribunal that Martinelli supported candidates used government funds to support their campaigns, leading to the ordering of re-runs. Those same candidates seeking to ensure themselves a guaranteed healthy income for the next five years still have access to warehouses of government goodies that they didn’t hand out last time around. President Varela is concerned that some candidates of the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA) and Democratic Change (CD) who still have the keys, will repeat their vote buying tactics. "This should not be repeated," stressed the President at an academic event at the Universidad Santa Maria La Antigua (USMA) on Friday