El Panama America reports today that it's not just police chief Gustavo Perez himself who was thrown out of the military because he took civilian hostages - among which many journalists - in 1989, but the senior advisor he appointed, Alejandro Araúz, was similarly discharged without honors.
On January 26th 1990, he was sent home because of "incurrir en arbitrariedad en actos del servicio".
The paper points out that all of this is against the law: Article 134 of Law 18 of 1997, which regulates the National Police, says that "appointing ex-members of the police can only take place when the separation of the institution has been because the person resigned, and only in lower ranks (rangos iniciales)".
This also disqualifies the Martinelli-appointed head of the SPI, Olmedo Alfaro, because he too was removed from the military because his "services were no longer needed".
So let's see: We have a police chief who ought to be prosecuted by an international court for war crimes. His advisor and the head of the SPI (the guys who are now being trained by Israeli experts) can't legally have these jobs because of their past. The Attorney General is a Martinelli puppet who got his position because of sleazy and illegal politics which have landed Panama before the Inter American Court. The mayor of Panama City is a corrupt clown who steals and lied about becoming an American citizen. And these people say that some protesters are the "maleantes de mierda"?
UPDATE: DDD, the cold blooded killer who for some reason is still a free man, comes out of the woodwork to support Perez et al.
Panama, lie, cheat, steal, corrupt, dishonest, deceitful, inconsiderate, not quite human, not quite civilized, bizarre, void of honor, no natural affection, delight in wrongdoing, evil, humanity’s finest…….you connect the dots as you see fit.
……………..s………………….o………………….c………………..i……………..o……..p……………a……………t…………….h…………………..s
Dots connected! Cultura panamaña!
You don’t see the US government to upset over Gustavo Perez, since he is whacking narcos left and right. It reminds me of the early days when Noriega was on the good side of the US government.