Twenty years after the United States removed Manuel Noriega from power, and with the recent focus on Honduras, Panama has been well below the radar for most Americans:
But it is a strategically important country that is playing a growing role in global trade. Indeed, it is estimated that 5 percent of all international trade-and a much higher percentage of U.S. trade-goes through the Panama Canal. [Outgoing President] Torrijos has successfully promoted Panama as a tourist hotspot and commercial hub. It is an increasingly popular retirement destination for Americans; indeed, U.S. expatriates helped fuel the recent Panamanian housing boom.
Ricardo Martinelli will officially be sworn in as president of Panama today and will serve a five-year term. The occasion will mark Panama’s fourth peaceful presidential transition since the overthrow of Noriega in 1989. Martinelli, who was the candidate of the conservative Alliance for Change party, won a landslide victory of 59 percent to 36 percent over Hugo Chavez favorite Balbina Herrera in the May elections.
