Vote early and vote often

It's a good time to be here -there was a referendum last Sunday to determine whether the country will spend over 5.25 kerbillion dollars to modernize and expand the 92-year old canal to allow super container ships to squeeze through.

It was such an interesting campaign – the “Yes” side in favor of expansion was being funded by public monies because the president supports widening the 50-mile canal. It was such a rush job that they haven’t even done a valid environmental impact study.

The “Yes” money seemed to go a long way. I saw mostly PR and marketing in favor of the expansion. From a PR perspective, it’s pretty exciting.

With an incredible 60% abstention rate, the expansion passed with almost 80% in favor. Even though the percentage in favor was so high, the opposition still claimed voting fraud. Typical. My crack research leads me to believe the vote is legit: I tried to vote, and they wouldn't let me...something about not being Panamanian...



I was fortunate to be in the old part of town on Friday and caught a full demonstration and march opposing the referendum. The few people against were pretty passionate about stopping the expansion. Since my camera battery died, I had to take some shoddy pics on my cell phone. As soon as I figure out how to transfer them, I’ll add them here.