OPINION: When callousness rules
Where $700 a month would be a dream
As the country suffers its worst economic downturn in 30 years, with thousands of jobs lost and a recovery that will take years to reach 2019 growth, the government displays grotesque callousness. For 2021, the General State Budget bill does not contemplate any reduction in travel expenses or allowances for officials who have to travel within or outside the country, which includes expenses of up to $ 700 a day for trips abroad. The savings, say, government spokesmen, will be in investment matters, despite the fact that this is precisely the engine that drives the economy the most. Such a privilege is a slap in the face for thousands of Panamanians who will hardly be able to reach $700 a month to survive. The solidarity Panama that the Government cackles so much about is not for that ordinary person, who suffers like no one else from poverty and the lack of public services. No, that solidarity is for the pockets of high officials, whose empathy with their voters is that of a slave owner, who sees in each vote the possibility of improving his own life, instead of that of those who have put their hope in them. Our worst tragedy is clearly not the pandemic. - LA PRENSA Aug 24
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