Sol de Leon, a Panamanian woman now living in the US lights up when recalling the "incredible" meeting with her extended family in China. Her grandfather Liang Tick Fe left the village of Fa Yen - later renamed Pingshan - on the outskirts of Guangzhou for Panama in 1918 when he was 24, leaving his wife and two sons at home. China was in chaos, ruled by warlords following the overthrow of it...

Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli stated on Wednesday that Panama’s first solar PV installation will hopefully lead to a reduction in the cost of energy across the nation, by means of renewable technologies. The project, located in the province of Herrera in the Sarigua National Park, is being developed through a US$9 million contribution from Italy’s Enel Green Power. Operation of the...

A partnership to promote imports and re-exports of apparel and fashion between Asia, the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) and Latin American destinations was signed by the Panamanian company Exclusive Brands Logistics Corp (EBL) and Damco Panama. The logistics deal is the first of its nature for the fashion industry in Panama. The hub will handle approx. 35,000 CBMs of goods per year. EBL is a leadin...

Strong pitching, solid defense and powerful bats have carried the team from Tokyo to a berth in the international final at the World Series following a 4-1 victory over Panama on Wednesday. Kotaro Kiyomiya homered in the first, and starter Ryuji Osada struck out seven. The left-handed Kiyomiya displayed prodigious power for a 13-year-old slugger. His blast landed nearly halfway up the hi...

If you would love to spend the rest of your life sailing in idyllic waters and are a citizen of Australia, the US, UK or Canada and a limited list of other countries, Panama could be your destination. Many cruising sailors have reached the San Blas, decided they are already in heaven, and stayed as long as they could. Now that decision has just become easier by a recent act of the Panamanian g...

The Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo recently concluded at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City, Republic of Panama. This year more than 3,000 tire dealers visited from over 80 countries, and more than 200 exhibitors participated from around the globe. Exhibiting companies included Sailun Tires, Triangle Tire, Bridgestone Tire Costa Rica, Tiremaxx International Corp.-Maxxis Ti...

Panama has always welcomed foreigners from all points and now they’re making it even easier with its new “Immediate Permanent Resident” visa. The visa was passed into law in May 2012 and applies to residents of 22 countries that Panama deems to have maintained friendly diplomatic and economic ties with the country. Some of these countries include the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Austra...

Panama City, Republic of Panama — The Panama Jazz Festival, one of Central America’s most successful jazz programs, launched the celebration of its 10th anniversary with the announcement of a stellar line-up of jazz greats from around the world. At a press conference held at Hotel El Panama Hotel, the host hotel for the 2013 event, Danilo Perez, founder and artistic director, revealed the na...

Maybe it is attacked. Maybe it is damaged. Maybe mines appear and traffic is halted. In the event that any of those scenarios ever occur at the Panama Canal — the 51-mile waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans — militaries from across the world want to be ready. So on Monday at Mayport Naval Station, personnel from more than a dozen nations came together to begin working out a ...

Panama is negotiating with ISRO to enter into technological collaboration for setting up a Satellite Tracking Station, a senior Panamanian minister said yesterday. Senior official level talks were fruitful and modalities were being worked out for installation of the station, so that system would be set up to track various satellites, Dr Ruben Berrocal Timmons, Minister of Science, Technolo...

Panama — Led by smugglers armed with knives and machetes, Mayra Reyes and 14 other Cubans sloshed through swamps and rivers and suffered hordes of mosquitoes as they struggled across the notorious Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia, the only north-south stretch of the Americas to defy road-builders. After walking for three days, the group reached the foot of a steep, scrubby mountain. T...

The Costa Rica Star previously published about a Kosher Food Center in Costa Rica. Come to the Table: Chef Gayle Squires explores the wonders of Panamanian kosher cuisine. When two single Jewish women arrive in Panama for a week, they can expect to eat very well. They will be wined and dined every evening by the sons of the friends of the parents of the friends who are hosting them. Eve...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has its eyes on Panama’s scandal ridden Olympic Committee (COP). On Sunday, July 29 IOC president Jacques Rogge, told Panama President Ricardo Martinelli that the IOC is "following closely" elections scheduled for December to resolve the conflict over the COP. According to the IOC, the meeting between Rogge and Martinelli was "fruitful" and the P...

NARGANA, PANAMA — In an 11th-grade classroom on this tropical island, the students have the deeply bronzed skin and black hair typical of ethnic Kuna people. That is, all except one: Mayli Gonzalez looks like she's from a Nordic realm. Her hair is blondish white and her skin is as fair as cream. The 16-year-old girl is an albino, and she is not unique among the Kuna, a band of indigenous...

COATEPEQUE, Guatemala - Jairo Jimenez scored a 77th-minute winner and 10-man Panama beat Guatemala 1-0 on Sunday to send itself and El Salvador to the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship. All three teams finished with three points and an identical zero goal difference from three matches, but Friday's 4-3 victory by El Salvador over Panama was the difference, as both qualified for the CONCACAF fi...

Panamanian boxer Juan Huertas lost his opening contest but won experience in the London Olympics on Sunday, July 29, while calling on Panama’s authorities to give more support to amateur boxing. Huertas lost to Puerto Rico's Felix Sanchez Verdejo, in the 60 kilos division but said on RPC Channel 4": In this fight I won experience and hope to continue improving said the 20 year old who ma...

First distilled on sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean beginning in the seventeenth century, rum has enjoyed a long history in popular culture as the preferred drink of pirates, sailors and daiquiri-swilling tourists on tropical vacations. While early descriptions of the molasses-based spirit refer to it as a "hot, hellish, and terrible liquor," today we know rum as the base alcohol in tiki...

A man accused of helping a Colombian drug gang smuggle tons of heroin and cocaine through Panama on its way to the U.S. has been extradited to face charges in New York. Andres Cajiao-Barberena is accused of operating a warehouse where boatloads of narcotics were stored after arriving from Colombia by sea. The drugs were then hidden inside heavy construction machinery and sent to Mexico, whe...

The conflicts in the border of Panama and Costa Rica at Paso Canoas remains due to the placing of chains by the State Border Service (SENAFRONT) in that area, which has led to meetings of the parties in order to discuss the situation. Members of the Paso Canoas Chamber of Commerce, the governor of the Chiriqui province, Aixa Santamaria, and authorities of both nations and Costa Rican trader...

“We have more friends than ever—our kids can’t believe how social we’ve become,” says one expat couple. “I’m busier than ever before,” says another expat in Panama. It’s a constant refrain from those who thought their retirement years might be marked by the restraints of a fixed income and a waning social calendar. Only to find that in Panama, the retiree lifestyle is a lot of fun… Take, fo...

Renting homes for a few days as an alternative to traditional hotel accommodation for tourists, is a growing trend all over the world and Panama is no exception. In Panama City, the phenomenon is also being driven by the widespread availability of apartments built and purchased as an opportunity to gain profit from resale, which the current market stagnation has left unoccupied. An artic...

Panama has proclaimed itself the No. 1 logistical hub in America, but there are still some weak links in the chain. According to businessmen interviewed by Melissa Novoa and Oscar Brown for an analysis in Martesfinanciero.com, one of the weak links in Panama’s logistics chain is that "logistics are still not moving towards comprehensive e-commerce." Carlos Urriola, executive vice preside...

The Trade Promotion Agreement signed between the U.S. and Panama provides that "any retail business may participate in the local market." An article in Laestrella.com.pa reports that the Deputy Minister of International Trade Negotiations, Diana Salazar, said: "There is a letter attached to the Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) that discusses retail trade, where companies complying with the r...

The expansion of the Panama Canal, involving the work of the Spanish company Sacyr Valle Hermoso and Panama’s Constructora Urbana, will allow the transit of vessels with three times the amount of cargo currently using the canal when expansion is completed in October 2014. The enlarged canal will allow transit of vessels with triple the present volume of cargo. “I think it will be one of ...

With only 1 day to go before the opening of the Olympic Games in London, Panama unexpectedly added another competitor to the team bringing the total to eight. The news came as a surprise to the country and to the new addition, swimmer Diego Castillo, who was initially classified under the brand B (invitational), because initially his time was not ruled fast enough in tryouts. "The truth...

PANAMA CITY, Panama -- President Ricardo Martinelli dislikes the politician elected as his vice president. He's belittled his courage, exhorted him to resign and slapped a $30 million libel suit against him. Martinelli's feud with Vice President Juan Carlos Varela is just one chapter in the tale of a onetime supermarket tycoon with an energetic and sometimes erratic style who is upending tr...

Vehicles crossing Paso Canoas in 2009 President Laura Chinchilla met with her Panamanian counterpart Ricardo Martinelli at the Sixaola southern border days ago to inaugurate a new bridge that will connect both Central American nations. The initial border crossing will be a provisional Bailey bridge, and it is expected to remain in place until both nations obtain $30 million in funding for the pe...

Panama has fully joined the Central American Integration System, in a move the country hopes will improve its trade with the region. SICA is Central America’s regional economic, cultural and political organization. While Panama had been a member of SICA, it had not previously participated in SICA’s integration subsystem. “We are financially part of Central America, and this will make the exc...

Copa Airlines has added Liberia, in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, to its list of destinations with the launch of a new flight from Panama. The new Tocumen (Panama) – Liberia (Costa Rica) route operates on Sundays and Thursdays, departing Panama at 09:52 and arriving in Liberia at 10:23. The return flight departs Liberia at 11:25 and arrives in Panama at 13:58 on both days. For ...

These days, with all the governmental turmoil in Costa Rica, some expats and others who want to retire in this part of the world are beginning to take a closer look at Nicaragua and Panama as possibilities, many focusing on the comparative crime rates as a major criterion in their choice. Nicaragua in particular is being promoted as the future “next Costa Rica” because of its supposedly lower crim...

Starting on June 24th, 2012, perpetual tourists residing in Guanacaste and the northern zone of Costa Rica will have Panama as a sensible option for a visa run. Copa Airlines will begin flying from the new Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia (LIR) directly to Panama. The new route will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, starting in Panama at 9:52 pm and arriving in LIR at 10:23...

The first day of the World Junior Surfing Championship in Playa Venao got off to a good start with solid heats by the best junior surfers in the world, but when Day 2 came around, the competition level went up a few notches. As Pavones native Noe Mar McGonagle paddled out for his heat, those who are familiar with his aggressive style of surfing knew that they would be in for a treat.  Noe M...

Roger Soto Zotela, a 35-year Costa Rican citizen, was shot and killed by an undercover agent of Panama's Direction of Judicial Investigations (Spanish acronym: DIJ) last Wednesday, according to news sources in that country. Newspaper El Siglo reported that undercover policemen from the Chiriqui region of Panama were conducting a sting operation in the border region of Paso Canoas when Mr. S...

The Costa Rica Star has recently published information about receiving your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid border runs, wasting time, and money. A few dear readers recently sent questions regarding a number of immigration affairs that visitors to our country regularly experience.  We have consolidated the relevant questions and answered them in this article for a more convenient rea...