SEPARATION payments of the 250 employees of Grupo Editorial El Siglo and La Estrella (GESE)  will be guaranteed if they close.

The statement  came  from Minister of Labor and Social Development (Mitradel) Luis Ernesto Carles  on Friday, October 6

"The most important thing is to be able to guarantee his work benefits," Carles said, long after President Juan Carlos Varela promised to preserve GESE's jobs says a La Estrella report.

The head of the Mitradel said that there is a lot of expectation that the license to the editorial group will be extended. He added that "it is an administrative decision of the US whether or not it extends." The US Treasury placed the media group on the US “Clinton list” after alleging its owner was head of a drug trafficking and money laundering organization.

John Feeley the US ambassador to Panama said: "The dice are rolled and it only depends on the captain of the ship,"  It is a shame that the captain of the ship, [owner Abdul Waked] rather than be pragmatic, does not give way." Reports La Estrella.