Panama’s wanted man

YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Back in June, just as President Bush’s fast-track trade authority was about to expire and Congress started to flex it’s protectionist muscles, FP predicted that securing approval for pending U.S. bilateral trade deals with Peru and Panama would be a cinch. That is, at least compared to similar, but more complicated deals with Colombia and South Korea.

But we may have spoken too soon. Recently elected as head of Panama’s National Assembly, Pedro Miguel González holds a less esteemed title here in the U.S.—he is a wanted man for the murder of an American soldier. González was indicted for the 1992 death of U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernandez in the Canal Zone, but acquitted by a Panamanian court in 1997. He still faces an outstanding warrant for his arrest in the United States, however.

González, who enjoys the support of President Martin Torrijos and is described by colleagues as a “great patriot,” has some harsh words for los yanquis‘ meddling in Panamanian affairs:

The era in which the U.S. has the last word in determining who governed our nation and how they did so is over. 

But for all his brave talk, The Guardian reports, González is leaving the possibility open of stepping down from his position if it threatens the trade agreement. And all this comes right as Panama has struck ground on a $5.25 billion expansion of the Canal. You don’t have to look hard to see that the U.S. footprint is still there: Two thirds of all cargo that passes through the Canal is coming from or headed to the United States. Even González can’t ignore that.