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Elected official flaunts ban on State vehicles for Carnival partying

Posted 22/02/2020

An elected representative of a  communal board was one of  43 drivers slapped with a fine for unauthorized use of State vehicles within hours of the start of Carnival.

Inspection staff of the Comptroller General of retained 24 state vehicles. breaching a decree dating back to 1996 which regulates the proper use, handling, control and registration of automobiles belonging to the State.

Among the irregularities found were drivers without a pass authorizing the use of the vehicle, expired license plates,.unauthorized passengers, no driving license or policy, expired license and the transport of alcoholic beverages.

A bulletin of the Comptroller reports the case of a vehicle from the communal board of Santa Rosa de Río Indio de Capira, detected at a  La Chorrera checkpoint driven by representative Juvencio Rodríguez, which carried three boxes of liquor on the back seat of a pickup.

Rodriguez received a $100 ticket , in addition to the retention of the vehicle.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/elected-official-flaunts-ban-on-state-vehicles-for-carnival-partying

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Over 3.400 firefightera on duty for celebrations

Posted 22/02/2020

A fire that started in grassland and spread to a tire storage center in Felepillo, on Saturday morning, February 22  sent black clouds of acrid smoke across the Diciembre 24 area east of Panama City.

The firefighters who battled the blaze were part of a force from  93 fire stations on standby to reinforce carnival safety. As part of the “Guardian 2020” Carnival operation, some 3,401 firefighters  will be on duty

Reinforced with volunteer staff, fire stations will be on call 24 hours a day, mobilizing firefighters to strategic places of public concentration. and  maintaining emergency and rapid exit posts on the main roads in the country

The red shirts will also be operating on various beaches such as Veracruz, Malibu, Estero Rico, San Carlos, Costas de Bocas del Toro, La Angosta, La Guaira and Isla Grande.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/over-3400-firefightera-on-duty-for-celebrations

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Police officer first Carnival victim

Posted 22/02/2020

The first fatal victim during Panama’s 2020 Carnival celebrations was an on-duty a police officer returning from a  call who was involved in a head-on collision in Tanara, Chepo on Friday night, February 21.

On   Saturday,  morning at least 70,000 drivers of headed towards the interior of the country, on the occasion of the carnivals and by early afternoon prehospital Emergency Management System (SUME 911) had treated about 629 emergencies including  88 traffic accidents, and police handed out scores of tickets for traffic violations.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/police-officer-first-carnival-victim-1

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Cinta  Costera closed   for Carnival jinks

The Queen and princesses will be crowned Friday at 8 pm.

Posted 21/02/2020

Panama’s Cinta Costera totally closed at  noon on Friday, Feb 21 to   February 26

The partying in the capital start at 8:00 pm with the coronation of  Carnival Queen  Julia Marina López Leong and her princesses Alina López and Melany Ruíz.

SECURITY
There will be security devices at the public entries and exits and during Carnival days, some 20.000 National Police (PN) officers will be deployed in 45 points in the country, where activities are scheduled.

Major Arcelio Pérez, PN chief of planning, said surveillance will not be neglected in red area, spas and transport terminals.

Pérez said that during the Carnival the entry of street vendors, sale of stick meat, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, lighters, and pyrotechnic fires, firearms, and sharps, glass containers, and coolers will be prohibited.

Immoral acts will be prohibited on artistic stages and grounds in  which events are held

https://www.newsroompanama.com/events/cinta-costera-closed-for-carnival-jinks

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No police clampdown on carnival dress as morality and virus debate heats up

Posted 20/02/2020

Police Chief Jorge Miranda said Wednesday , Feb. 19 that there will  be no clampdown on what people wear at Carnival celebration after a social media conflagration ignited by calls for cancelation of the celebrations  by an evangelical pastor.

“We are not going to define what the type of clothing is. Each person is aware of how they should behave, because there are social norms recognized by each one of us. ”  said Miranda.

Police will not charge or interfere or impose measures on clothing that minors will use during carnival days in the country.

However, he warned that those who will be aware of the issue are officials of the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family (Senniaf), who will be at each of the entrances to the points where the culecos (tanks of water  used to spray celebrants) are located.

He added that as citizens "we all have to be careful not to put at risk the training of our youth and children by exposing them to activities that could put both their physical health and their personal training at risk."

Children participating in the culecos must carry their youth ID and be accompanied by at least one adult.

In a  controversial video circulating on social media Pastor Edwin Álvarez, condemns the authorities for not canceling the events because of the coronavirus outbreak. “ If there was responsibility, the carnivals would be suspended. What are you waiting for, that people get infected and fill the hospitals? ”he said

In a controversial video that circulates in social networks of the pastor in the , the holiday not only puts the population of infections at risk, it also leads the human being to perdition … Suspend those Carnivals before God's judgment falls on them !! Down with sin, down with liquor, down with immorality, down with doom !! ” Alvarez added.

The health authorities in the country have said that at the moment there is no circulation of Covid19 or new coronavirus, so there is no need to cancel the carnivals. What they have recommended are prevention measures for various diseases.

There is no scientific support for us to close some massive activity, ”said  Lourdes Moreno, an epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health .

The Catholic Church asked for sanity in carnivals. Monsignor José Domingo Ulloa called for respect for human

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/no-police-clampdown-on-carnival-dress-as-morality-and-virus-debate-heats-up

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Carnival green alert  for hospital services

Posted 20/02/2020

The Social Security Fund (CSS) declared a “green alert” before the start of the Carnival celebrations from noon on Friday, February 21 until six in the afternoon on Wednesday, February 26.

The staff of the National Department of Emergency Management, Disasters and Patient Transportation (Dengedtp), the Emergency Services and the Executing Units of the CSS Health Network throughout the country, are alerted the entity said on Wednesday

https://www.newsroompanama.com/events/carnival-green-alert-for-hospital-services

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40,000 health and security personnel  on standby  for Carnival

Posted 17/02/2020

Over  40,000 security and emergency personnel will be deployed during the "Guardians 2020" operation to reduce highway carnage during Carnival.

At a Monday, February 17  press conference  17 authorities said that all land, naval and air components will be available to all national and foreign citizens during the Carnival festivities (February 21 to 25).

The Minister of Public Security, Juan Pino, said:  "Many of the accidents that are seen on a daily basis can be prevented," he said, so he asked citizens for "coherence."

Health, Minister  Rosario Turner, reported that 114 facilities and 80 ambulances will be available to those who need to be treated.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/events/40000-health-and-security-personnel-on-standby-for-carnival

We edited the event to show the venue as BCP, and not the Biblioteca de Boquete.

This event was rescheduled due to a conflict. This is the correct date and time for this event. See http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/14112-change-of-date/ for more details.

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17th Jazz Festival launched after difficult year

Posted 13/01/2020

The Panama  Jazz Festival raised the curtain on its 17th edition on  Monday, January 13 in the City of Knowledge, after what the founder Danilo Perez described as a “difficult year.

A bumper catalog of concerts that will run until January with . This year's honoree is Panamanian saxophonist Reggie Johnson.

Pérez festival said that 2019 was a difficult year for the organization of the event due to numerous challenges including the lack of long-term agreements.

It is expected that the situation will be remedied after the signing of an agreement with the Mayor's Office of Panama, which guarantees financing of $250,000 until 2024.

Pérez also urged a cultural change in Panamanian society. "Let's not think of 'I'm going to change if he does it first," said the musician.

Culture minister Carlos Aguilar said that the Jazz Festival is an opportunity to be entertained and meet great world exponents of jazz in the country. "During the years of this festival, many young people were transformed through music," he added.

Iván Eskildsen administrator of the Tourism Authority, , said that great efforts are being made to promote the festival as a tourist attraction of the country along with the tour operators.

"The event is a perfect excuse for tourists to see other tourist attributes," he said.

The agenda of artistic workshops take place in the City of knowledge and the concert program opens at Holiday Inn, Teatro Ateneo, Danilo's Jazz Club, and Villa Agustina.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/events/17th-jazz-festival-launched-after-difficult-year

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1000 Polleras Parade adds millions to local economy

Posted 12/01/2020

A quarter of a million people poured into the Las Tablas region on Saturday, January 11 to witness the Parade of a Thousand Polleras (Panama's national dress), which added $25 million to the local economy.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/travel/1000-polleras-parade-adds-millions-to-local-economy

Typo corrected. Thanks.

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$2.3  million for  Carnival high jinks

Posted 04/01/2020

Panama’s  Tourism Authority (ATP)will allocate $2.3 million for the organization of this year's carnivals, which will be held in different regions of the country February 21-25,

A note published in the Official Gazette says that $1.9 million will go to the Carnival of Panama City and the remaining “ $400,000“ to the rest of the country where the activity is celebrated. It is not specified which cities would benefit from the contribution that comes from the ATP budget.

The ATP will coordinate with the police, civil protection and health authorities for  “the maintenance of public order, safety, health, decoration, decency and public morality during the celebration of the holidays”.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/events/23-million-for-carnival-high-jinks

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Ruben Blades joins 2020 Jazz Festival stars

Posted 19/12/2019

Panamanian singer-songwriter Grammy award-winning icon.  Rubén Blades and the  Roberto Delgado Orchestra will be among the guest artists at the seventeenth edition of the Panama Jazz Festival. January 13 -18, 2020.

 Since the festival was founded in 2003, it has attracted 350,000 jazz lovers, while in January 2019 it attracted over  30,000 people e from around the world.

Blades will participate in the festival's gala night on January 15 at the Anayansi Theater in the Atlapa Convention Center.

Also in the concert will be the festival’s founder  Danilo Pérez , Dianne Reeves, Isaac Delgado, Terri Lyne Carrington and John Patitucci.

The show marks an important precedent in the cultural exchange between Panama, Cuba and the United States, says a statement from the event organizers.

The festival will also feature a series of stellar shows at the Teatro Ateneo de Ciudad del Saber, with artists such as the Detroit All-Star band, Chilean Patricia Zárate, and drummer Adam Cruz.

The Panamanian band composed of women The Daughters of Jazz, the Panamanian musician Osvaldo Ayala and Ravi Coltrane will be some of the musicians that will close the concert week.

The Panama Jazz Festival also has an educational component and to date $4.5 million dollars were distributed in national and international scholarships and its music workshops bring together 5,000 students from around the world every year.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/events/ruben-blades-joins-2020-jazz-festival-stars

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An Indigenous Group In Panama Holds The Guinness Record For World’s Largest Patacón

BY danielli | November 13, 2019 AT 2:25 pm

After a coordinated six-month effort, Panama’s Emberá de Ipetí indigenous community broke the Guinness World Record for the largest patacón in the world. How many plátanos does it take to make the worlds largest was that patacón, you ask? Weighing at 245 pounds and measuring over 11 feet in diameter, the World’s Largest Patacón required 1,200 plátanos and 330 gallons of frying oil. The long-anticipated event drew in a sold-out crowd of 700 celebrators who took part in Emberá traditions, dance, and plenty of comida.

“We no longer want to be this statistic of vulnerability,” Emberá de Ipetí’s community leader, Sara Omi, told CNN. “We are rich in knowledge and that’s what we’re demonstrating here today.”

As visitors arrived for “Patacón Day,” they were invited to participate in a hand-washing ritual.

At the entrance of the events, guests could participate in this Emberá ritual that uses plants to cleanse “malas vibras,” or bad vibes. “The plants we use to wash our hands has a lot to do with our worldview,” Sara Omi said. “For example, if you arrive at your home and bring bad malas vibras, washing your hands will take away those malas vibras. You become more open for everything that comes.” Then, the guests could go ahead and dance and eat with everyone else.

Over 100 volunteers worked to make individual tostones that were spread across an enormous steel mold.

It takes a lot of labor to peel, chop, fry, grind, knead and finally assemble 1,200 plátanos. Volunteers would fry individual plátanos in this enormous, 330-gallon vat of oil, and bring it to the steel mold for others to assemble. Then, the crowd gathered around to watch the tense moment that volunteers carefully carried 245 pounds of plátanos back to this vat of oil. Then, it was dropped into the oil for its final fry, and lifted out of the vat to become the world’s largest patacón. This wasn’t their first rodeo either. It took six months for the 134 Emberá de Ipetí indigenous volunteers to practice and perfect the enormous feat. 

According to Carlos Tapia, the official adjudicator of the Guinness World Records, there were three requirements to ensure the attempt would be a success. 

The first was that the patacón remained an intact, single patacón. It could not break once it was removed from the oil. Secondly, there had to be several professionals present. A metrologist could certify that the final weight was at least 220 pounds to break the previous record. There also had to be a cultural expert present to ensure the patacón was true to its roots. A health and hygiene inspector was also present to ensure that the food was prepared in such a way that it didn’t violate any health codes. 

The final requirement to break the record was to make sure none of the food goes to waste.

We love that, Guinness World Records. That means the pressure isn’t off once the patacón is flawlessly assembled and beats the previous weight record. Then, came the universal tradition: eat as much food as you possibly can, and then have seconds. With a sold-out crowd of folks there to witness history, it goes without saying that the Emberá de Ipetí pulled off the feat. Maybe it was because the record was broken on the auspicious Oct. 14, or World Food Day. While folks were feasting, they could also support the women artisans selling their crafts, entirely inspired and created from the nature surrounding them.

The Patacón has become a symbol of unity and the greatness of indigenous peoples and of Panama.

“I would like to tell everyone who is here, my perfect Patacón staff, those who have been part of a little piece of patacón and all the people who joined this dream, never forget that, together, we can achieve what we set out to do,” Patacón director, Sabrina Naimark, told the crowd. “We managed to unite as a country, make the Emberá de Ipetí Indigenous community visible, and achieve the Guinness World Record Holder Record so that the world knows how big Panama is and what we are able to do when we put soul, passion, and dedication to an idea. That idea became a reality, creating a true social impact in Panama and the world.”

https://wearemitu.com/culture/indigenous-panamanian-patacon-record/

Click Here to see the Telemetro news article (in Spanish), which includes a short video with lots of interesting shots during this event.

Courtesy of Carmela Gobern of Panama Cyberspace News.

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Panama makes Guinness records book with giant patacon

Posted 16/10/2019

Panama ataggered into the Guinness book of records on Wednesday, October 16,  with the world’s largest patacón prepared and baked in the community of Ipetí Emberá.

The huge patacón had a weighed  111.4 kilograms, (245.8 pounds) and measured 3.4 meters in diameter It contained over 1,200 bananas and 1,250 liters of oil, prepared and mixed by 14o helpers directed by two renowned chefs, Panamanian chefs  Rachel Pol Policart and Oriana Bekerman.

It was seved with a banana sauce by Panama TOP Chef 2018. Alonso Garcia.

A  Guinness records judge judge delivered the certification and stressed that all parameters were met.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama-makes-guinness-records-book-with-giant-patacon-1

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