Security

Delgado, Gates to talk

Daniel Delgado Diamante, the ministro de Gobierno y Justicia, reacted strongly yesterday to reitred General Rubén Darío de Paredes's criticism of the government's plan for restructuring the country's security sector.

“Paredes is two decades behind the times, and he wants to implement strategies or solutions to problems that he himself never carried out when he directed the Fuerzas de Defensa”, said the minister.

Delgado confirmed that he will travel to the United States on July 7 to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to discuss security issues.

On June 30, the U.S. Congress approved the Mérida Initiative, a security cooperation agreement between the United States and Mexico and Central America. The Initiative is aimed at fighting drug trafficking, terrorism, and other threats to the those nationsby providing them with boats, helicopters, planes, weaponry, new technology and training.

Congress has authorized $1.6 billion for the three-year initiative, of which Panama will receive $3.6 million. It does not call for U.S. troops on the ground, and Delgado said that it does not obligate Panama to allow the U.S. to build military bases here or permit any other nation to have a military presence on the isthmus.

The Initiative takes its name from a meeting between President Bush and Mexican president Felipe Calderón in Mérida, Mexico.

Critics of the Initiative refer to it as “Plan Mexico” because of its similarities to Plan Colombia, the controversial legislation whereby the U.S. heavily funded the Colombian military in its war on drugs.