The Government of President Juan Carlos Varela reflects the image of complicity with law firm Mossack Fonseca in the scandal caused by the publication of Panama papers, causing the worst
damage to the image of the country in its history, even more than the failure of the French canal.
This is the conclusion at which Former Foreign Minister Jorge Eduardo Ritter arrived pointing out that since the scandal became known, the country "has become a kind of destination where crime is allowed and money laundering occurs", and not even in the era of dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega was there such as bad perception about the nation.
"I don't know if it is the worst thing that has happened to the Panamanian people, but it is the worst that has ever happened to the image of Panama in its history, the image of Panama had never before been so shattered (...)" so damaged in all the newspapers of the world", lamented Ritter in the Sunday program Cara a Cara of RPC television.
He questioned the way the authorities have handled this scandal, and he described as "a bad excuse" on the part of Prosecutor General Kenya Porcell to argue that tax evasion is not a crime in the country, when it is true that in other nations this practice is severely punished.
"We have lived a sort of saga, first claiming that that offshore companies are not crime, which is well known, because we have analyzed what has happened in a biased manner," criticized the former foreign minister who argued that “in legal matters not much has been done ".
"We are not being accused of having offshore companies, it is Panama which is being accused of this through this company, [Mossack Fonseca], who schemed such arrangements to avoid taxes, to launder capital, and that is what we have not done, the right investigation", said the expert, who rejected the wave of Government advertising released after the scandal while abroad it was being asked whether Panama had started an investigation and that they would be punished for this behavior.
He said that "Switzerland has asked an investigation, help or assistance from Panama, Brazil has done it and Panama has not been able to consolidate a full investigation of what and where we are going to lead this inquiry". "Avoiding this to occur again and punish the guilty parties; that's the part that we have not yet done".
He added that – due to the President - the word of the country was compromised at the international level and was not fulfilled though, and now it was back to its position on the exchange of tax information.
"Last year, the President said at the United Nations that Panama would be submitted to the exchange of information, but on a bilateral basis, but not only that, but that each country would choose how they would negotiate the exchange of information." The OECD said that with everyone and under a form. "Following the scandal, Panama should have to go back and say we will give information", he said.
He stressed that "the worst of this is that we are still starting. The researchers have said that it is in the month of May when we will start to unfold all the background and that will have consequences that, in my view, are unpredictable", he warned.
J.C. Varela appeared late because he did not understand the magnitude of the problem
After revealing the Panama papers scandal, the Government should have convened in the first instance the Council of Foreign Affairs and the former Presidents to recognize the seriousness and the complexity of the problem, however, President Juan Carlos Varela took long to recognize it, said Jorge Eduardo Ritter.
"It took them by surprise that the Vice President - Isabel De Saint Malo - were in Europe and the President did not understand at the very beginning the magnitude of what was happening, because he went to Colón, and after the scandal was released here we were on Monday as if nothing had happened and that made a very bad impression abroad, because the Panamanians who are the ones primarily involved do not really care" said the expert.
He added that "one should expect the President to separate friendship, the best friend is that who does not harm, but Ramón Fonseca Mora not only hurt him, but he did not warn about the magnitude of what would happen".
