Forbes has had some interesting articles on retiring abroad, and Panama is still one of the top ten destinations. As we’ve discovered recently there is no place in the world that is totally immune to nature’s occassional rampages, but Panama is still “paradise” for many of us.

Panama has almost everything: year-round sun, low taxes, massive discounts for seniors, first-world amenities, quality private hospitals, bird-filled rainforests, a dollar economy and easy flights from the U.S. Panama City is considered safest of all Central American cities, with worldly buzz because of the canal, and a World Heritage Site.

Downside: pockets of corruption.

Here’s the article from Forbes by Richard C. Morais . . .

The 10 Best Retirement Havens

Forbes cannot promise retirees “paradise on $30 a day.” Quite the opposite. We promise seniors wishing to move out of the U.S. that they will not find paradise anywhere. Each country is unique–with assets and liabilities–and the key to successful retirement as an ex-pat is carefully matching your own personal priorities and finances to the country that has caught your eye.

To help matters along, Forbes has compiled its own list of the 10 best retirement havens, based on a wide variety of criteria ranging from safety to retiree-friendly visa requirements to decent medical care. The countries on our hit list: Austria, Thailand, Italy, Panama, Ireland, Australia, France, Malaysia, Spain and Canada.

No place is perfect. Some countries rank high in one area but lower in others. Australia is by one well-regarded rating, the Country Brand Index, the most livable place in the world. (For the Country Brand and other rankings, see “Retire At Home Or Abroad?”) But if you plan to return to the U.S. frequently, Australia makes for a long slog. Canada is No. 2 in the Country Brand ratings and certainly convenient for Americans, but its harsh winters are well-known. Italy scores high on quality of life, medical care, and even cost of living and climate for retirees residing in the Southern parts of the country. But its complicated taxes and bureaucracy require patience.

So, the key to any decision: Know yourself and do your homework.

If you’re a sun-worshiper determined to protect your assets from overreaching Western governments, consider countries like Panama or Malaysia.

If you are solidly middle-class with a taste for high culture, then there are pleasant surprises to be found in Europe. Who would have known, for example, that France is so friendly to American retirees? Or consider Ireland. Its top personal income tax rate is 43%. That’s not terribly appealing on the surface, but a couple over 65 is entirely exempt from Irish tax on any income below $59,000.

Are you eager to live abroad but totally tone-deaf to foreign languages? That’s a fine argument for Australia, Ireland or Canada. The key to lowering costs and receiving first-rate medical and other services in foreign countries is the ability to “work the system,” and to do that, you have to speak the local language passably well. Sheila Trifari, an American who had cancer while retired in Paris, says she received excellent medical care precisely because she was fluent in French and could work her way through the local medical establishment.

On the other hand, going totally native can bring on unexpected and powerful bouts of homesickness. Kathleen de Carbuccia, president of the Association of Americans Resident Overseas, recommends that prospective retirees seek out cities, towns or villages where there is an existing American or English-speaking ex-pat community. Fellow ex-pats will be of great help during those inevitable moments when cultures clash, and they’ll perhaps help you see the humor in the situation.

Decent and affordable medical care is a key issue for retirees, of course. Most nations, when a retiree applies for a visa at their consulates, require proof of income, such as private or public pension payments and bank account statements, as well as proof of private medical insurance. They don’t want seniors who haven’t paid into their health care systems to become a burden on the locals who have been paying into the system all their lives.

But listen to Donald Johnson, an 80-year-old American retiree in Paris, when he says, “the largest advantage we have is our health care [in France.] We are not sure we could afford to return to the U.S., where health care costs are completely out of control.” In short, factor the costs of medical care into your overall analysis, because in many cases even the costlier E.U. countries become attractive when the quality and cost of medical care is included in a retiree’s projected budget.

Look for the unexpected snafu in your plans: Most American retirees abroad receive their income in U.S. dollars; their expenses are in a foreign currency. Managing this currency risk is one of the most difficult elements of living abroad, and it is likely to be a growing issue, as we enter a period of prolonged dollar weakness.

So, be wise. If you calculate you’ll have to live month-to-month on your pension and Social Security payments while in a European city, then consider village life, or one of our lower-cost alternatives, like Thailand, where you’ll have enough income to maintain a cash reserve and a fine quality of life. No one, after all, wants to be forced home when the dollar drops 25%, as it can sometimes do in a period of just a couple of years.

But there is a means, on our list, to eliminate even the currency risk, if that is your priority. Exotic Panama, that sunny nation in Central America, gateway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, has adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency. Move there and your assets and liabilities are matched.

So, retire abroad, by all means, for it can be richly rewarding. But do so with eyes wide open.

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La opinión del Economista…..

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FRANCISCO BUSTAMANTE

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Ha sido largo y difícil el camino de Panamá hacia Centroamérica.  Desde niños se nos enseñó que Panamá está política e históricamente ligado a Suramérica, por su relación con la Gran Colombia de Simón Bolívar, y con Estados Unidos por el Canal.  Inclusive en nuestras comidas, música, estilo al hablar, nos parecemos más al Caribe que a Centroamérica.

Nuestra orientación hacia una economía de servicios parecía en cierto momento ser poco compatible con la Región. Los tratados bilaterales con distintos países centroamericanos fueron algunos de los medios usados para vincularnos comercialmente con la oferta y demanda de la Zona.

La posterior fragmentación política de Centroamérica en todos los países de la región, con excepción de Costa Rica, generó violentas guerras civiles con heridas todavía no restañadas del todo.   Nuestra economía dolarizada, alegre y despreocupada, nuestra idiosincrasia, cubrieron con risas, música y despreocupación nuestras desigualdades, miserias y contradicciones.   Por un tiempo.

Entramos en la vorágine de las dictaduras de los 60 en adelante. La lucha contra el comunismo ateo y enemigo de las santas y católicas costumbres del mundo occidental, nos llevaron a enfrentamientos fratricidas.  La Europa moderna aprendió después de guerras extendidas por casi mil años, a convivir. Y se inventaron los mecanismos de post-guerra. Los bancos de desarrollo, el Fondo Monetario, la Unión Europea y el Parlamento Europeo. Y nos recetaron similares remedios para la convulsionada Región Centroamericana. Y  varios países de este microcosmos que medran con los apoyos que condicionan los donantes a la adopción de esos dispositivos transnacionales aceptan como verdades reveladas implantar similares mecanismos. Entre estos, el inefable Parlamento Centroamericano.

Creo en la Integración Centroamericana. Es más, me gustaría ver la América Latina caminando como un solo país, compartiendo esfuerzos para resolver los problemas de miseria y exclusión que nos enferman. Me gustaría ver un verdadero Parlamento Latinoamericano, formado por las mejores mentes y voluntades, que estuvieran generando ideas para homologar sistemas, leyes, sistemas educativos, etc.  Es eso lo que nos ofrece el actual Parlacen? Me cuento entre los cientos de miles de panameños que no lo creemos.

Panamá ha decidido permanecer un año en dicho organismo. Ojalá que en ese plazo, Panamá logre convencer a sus pares que cambien la forma, estructura, gestión y selección de los miembros de dicho cuerpo. Si no se logra, no queda más que decir. Hay que salir de esos órganos burocráticos que no sirven para nada. Pero ojo.

Tenemos que ir tan lejos para verificar si estos organismos de representación aportan algo válido a nuestros países? Acaso nuestros parlamentos locales son mejores? O nuestros programas sociales?

Por qué no evaluar continuar con determinados programas o políticas? Por ejemplo, el IFARHU, que recoge millones de dólares y no sabemos a ciencia cierta cuantos profesionales y técnicos se han formado con esos recursos?

Que argumentan sus directores que los políticos de pueblos son sus mejores canales de difusión, no las escuelas? O los programas médicos o universidades?

Creo que la evaluación del uso de los dineros de  todos los panameños, no solamente se debe hacer con organismos como el Parlacen. Hay que hacerlo con todos los programas y políticas que se financian con fondos públicos. Y los que no sirvan y no son recuperables, cerrarlos. Este es el cambio que me gustaría ver.

Y si no lo hacen nuestros gobernantes, pues tendremos que empezar a preparar la trocha para hacerlo nosotros mismos.  Y volver al camino, con la adarga al brazo y con los talones rozando el costillar de Rocinante….

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Enviado el 11/26/2009   a las 10:19 p.m. por correo a Panaletras por el autor a quien damos todo el crédito que le corresponde.

El escaso presupuesto asignado limita la realización de programas de resocialización para jóvenes privados de libertad en un sistema enfocado en la sanción.

enlace a noticia original en La Prensa

BEIJING – China has executed two men for abducting and selling 15 children, many of whom were taken as babies or toddlers and have not yet been reunited with their parents, state media said Friday.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Hu Minghua, 55, and Su Binde, 27, were executed Thursday morning, according to a statement from the Supreme People’s Court.

Hu was convicted of kidnapping and selling nine children from April 1999 to Oct. 2005. He was detained in January 2006. Five of the children, all boys now aged from 3 to 6, have been returned to their families, while the parents of the remaining ones have not been found.

Su was convicted of abducting six children between Sept. 2005 to July 2006. Five of the children were rescued by police while a sixth remains missing.

Child trafficking is big problem in China, where traditional preference for male heirs and a restrictive one-child policy has driven a thriving market in baby boys, who fetch a considerably higher price than girls. Girls and women also are abducted and often used as laborers or as brides for unwed sons.

Thousands of children go missing every year though the exact numbers of victims are difficult to obtain. Earlier this year, Chinese police announced they had rescued about 2,000 abducted children as part of a nationwide crackdown on widespread trafficking of women and children.

In October, China’s Ministry of Public Security set up a Web site — “Babies Looking for Home” — to reunite rescued children with their families.

State media have reported hundreds of rescues and arrests since the campaign began in April, and the new site had photos of dozens of children rescued from kidnappers but who had not yet found their families. The ministry set up a national DNA database earlier this year.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Visit our web site at: www.abpworld.com

by Jeremy D. Morley

Here are some tips for attorneys and clients faced with instituting or defending child abduction proceedings under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, whether in the United States or internationally.

In a nutshell, a Hague Convention application may be made when a child is taken or retained across an international border, away from his or her habitual residence, without the consent of a parent who has rights of custody, if the two countries are parties to the Convention. The child must be promptly returned to the habitual residence unless the return will create a grave risk of harm to the child.

1. ACT FAST

An attorney must be ready to file a Hague Convention application and institute or defend a Hague Convention lawsuit on extremely short notice.

Prompt action may be critical. The Convention specifically requires that hearings be conducted expeditiously. A Hague case can theoretically be instituted more than a year after the abduction but a defense will then arise that the child has become settled in the new environment and, in practice, the longer a child is in a new place the more likely it is that a court will be reluctant to send the child away.

Fast action by the left-behind parent is also necessary to help prevent a claim that the parent has acquiesced in the child’s relocation.

Clients must move quickly to obtain the documents needed to file the initial application and then to collect the documents needed for the hearing. They should normally be asked to prepare a detailed family history and to assist the attorney to develop evidence as rapidly as possible.

In addition to the Hague application and lawsuit itself, counsel for the left-behind parent should take many other steps.

First, counsel should enlist the support of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues. Second, the left-behind parent should institute civil proceedings. If there is no custody order in place from a court in the jurisdiction of the habitual residence, an application should immediately be made for such an order.

Third, counsel should consider putting the abducting parent on immediate written and formal notice of the dire consequences, civil, criminal and financial, that the abduction will cause to that parent personally, and, possibly to others conspiring with the parent. It may be appropriate to provide an extremely short time for the abducting parent to cure the problem by returning the child.

Fourth, the parent should consider requesting the federal and state prosecutors to institute both federal and state criminal proceedings. The federal crime of international parental kidnapping is a felony with a penalty of up to three years in prison. In addition, many states including New York have provisions that also provide criminal penalties for parental child abduction. It will occasionally be possible to seek extradition based on a federal warrant.

2. PREPARE THE FACTUAL PRESENTATION INTENSELY

Hague Convention cases are often extremely fact-intensive. They frequently hinge on the ability of one party to convince the court of matters such as the habitual residence of a child, the extent to which a parent actually exercised custody rights and whether or not a parent consented to or acquiesced in a new residency. For a court to resolve these matters it must analyze the relevant facts.

A successful Hague proceeding requires the attorney, working closely with the client, to marshal as much evidence as possible, in as many forms as possible, to support the client’s position.

Clients are frequently shocked that matters that to them are obvious and indisputable turn out to be disputed and to require them to produce clear and convincing proof. They may well be insulted that their word alone is insufficient to convince the court that they are truthful and that the other parent is lying.

In one case, the parents had moved permanently with their young child from the mother’s native country to the U.S. Two years later, the mother took the child back to her country for a vacation and then refused to return to the States. In supporting her claim that the child was never habitually resident in the States she claimed that the original move to America had been only temporary and that she and the father had agreed that they would return to the mother’s native country after a year or two. The mother had planned the move well in advance and had amassed — and even created — evidence that tended to support her claims. Additionally, she had removed evidence from the parties’ home that would have disproved her claims.

To win the case, we interviewed neighbors, friends, family members, schoolteachers, real estate salespeople, fellow office workers and an array of other people who had had some connection with the family. We checked into any and all areas of the mother’s life for anything that might indicate her intention to stay in the States. We obtained emails, notes, invoices, and other documents. We searched old household bills for evidence of the purchase of items that inferred a degree of permanency. At the hearing, the mother was shocked that her husband had collected so much written evidence to disprove her claims and undercut her credibility. The courts ultimately — and with great reluctance, since they were going against a local national — found in favor of our client.

Since Hague cases are tried quickly, there is usually only one chance to present the case and it needs to be done well at the very outset. An attorney must embark on a quick campaign of collecting mounds of relevant evidence to support the client’s positions, and must expect the other parent to lie, cheat, and distort the facts in a desperate attempt to avoid losing the case.

Just as a current military strategy is to employ overwhelming force to create shock and awe, so too in a Hague Convention case it is often advisable to use overwhelming amounts of evidence to win the case. Such a campaign in a Hague proceeding may yield a capitulation by the other parent even before the hearing actually commences.

Hague Convention hearings sometimes take the form of “he said, she said” disputes in which each side makes verbal accusations against the other. Documentary evidence is usually far better than the mere word of one parent. Thus, if you want to claim that a parent applied for an immigration visa, you must be prepared to do more than simply have the parent tell the court that this was done. You should do whatever you can to get hold of the actual application papers that the parent signed in applying for the visa, which may mean contacting the lawyer who handled the immigration matter originally.

While it is helpful if documents are supported by sworn statements, it is not essential. Both the Convention and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (“ICARA”) provide that authentication of documents is not required in a Convention proceeding.

3. PREPARE THE LEGAL ARGUMENT INTENSELY

Hague Convention cases raise unusual international law, foreign law and treaty law questions. They involve the courts in matters of a kind that they are usually not used to handling. In many jurisdictions the court may be entirely unfamiliar with Hague cases. Accordingly it is usually essential for the lawyers to help the court to an unusual extent. Certainly a well-reasoned memorandum of law is essential.

The matters in dispute in most Hague cases raise difficult legal issues that must be thoroughly briefed. Thus, the Convention requires the left-behind parent to establish that the child was taken from the “habitual residence” and that the parent had “rights of custody” under the law of that jurisdiction. However, neither of those fundamental terms is defined in the Convention and substantial jurisprudence has grown domestically and internationally setting forth often-contradictory determinations concerning their scope and meaning. Moreover, courts have held that, while they must determine under international law whether the left-behind parent possesses Hague Convention “custody rights,” they must first examine the law of the child’s habitual residence in order to ascertain the extent of the rights that such parent possesses under that law. In this regard, it is often essential to use foreign law experts to establish the existence and scope of such rights.

A Hague Convention attorney may ” and should ” cite cases not only from the domestic jurisdiction but also from other jurisdictions if they support the client’s position. It has become more usual to cite cases from other jurisdictions in this area of the law than perhaps in any other. Courts around the world recognize that it is best to coordinate their decisions with those of other courts internationally and, for that very reason, the Hague Conference on Private International Law has established a database of significant Hague cases from courts around the world.

4. AVOID BEST INTERESTS ANALYSIS

In representing the left-behind parent in a Hague proceeding, it is necessary to keep the court focused on the narrow issues that the Convention requires an applicant to establish and the narrow defenses that a respondent can assert. Whenever the hearing strays into any areas that might be considered as constituting an analysis of the child’s best interests, the applicant should vehemently object.

However, a party opposing a return should do his or her utmost to assert any and all relevant issues under the rubric of one of the defenses specified in the Convention and should be armed with case law to establish that similar claims were permitted in other cases.

5. BE FLEXIBLE CONCERNING EVIDENCE

In Hague cases evidence rules are usually relaxed, so evidence should be submitted in any possible format. Live testimony is invariably the best and normally everything should be done to get the left-behind parent into the courtroom. (An exception is if that parent would be a poor witness and his or her presence would create an opportunity for embarrassing cross-examination). If a witness cannot be brought to the courthouse, consider testimony by video conferencing or otherwise by telephone conference. As a last resort, submit affidavits.

6. USE AN EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY: IF THAT’S NOT YOU, FIND SOMEONE WHO IS

Hague Convention cases happen too fast, and too much is at stake for the client, for an attorney to learn about this area of law at the last minute. It is extremely important to locate counsel with knowledge and experience in Hague proceedings.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Visit our web site at: www.abpworld.com

Many left-behind parents are told that the Hague Convention will bring about the return of their abducted children. Some authorities say that if your child is abducted, you should follow procedures outlined by the Hague, but we don’t agree.

Until 1980, there was no international system in place to help parents recover abducted children who had been taken to other nations. The Hague Convention attempted to create one, but it doesn’t work. If you take the time to read the well-intentioned text of the Hague, you’ll see its many flaws.

In our opinion, it’s not worth the large amounts of money, time and trouble to hire an attorney to try using the Hague Convention to get your child back. You aren’t likely to get him or her back — and even worse, the abducting parent could be “legitimized” by the courts in another nation.

Under the Hague Convention, a case must be filed in the country where the abductor has taken the child. The courts of that country tend to render their decisions in favor of their countrymen, as the Hague Convention focuses on residency, not citizenship. There is little concern for the fact that the child is a citizen of the country from which he or she was abducted, or for the possible detrimental effect on the child.

Even if the child was born in your country, if that child is found to be a “habitual resident” by the courts in another country, the child may be ordered to be returned to that country.

This underscores the need to act quickly.

Few, if any, of the Hague signatory countries are going to send anyone out to physically recover your child for you. Embassy officials will check on the child’s welfare, if it is known where the child is and if the abducting parent lets them.

As soon as abducting parents are aware that that they’ve been located, they’ll usually disappear with the children again.

And about hiring lawyers

You need to be aware that a great amount of money has been spent on lawyers in foreign abduction cases. The unfortunate fact is that they, most often, can’t practice in the foreign courts and are required to hire associate lawyers in the foreign country.

Note: they often have no qualifications or experience working with child abduction cases.

More money…

Educate yourself

Many resources are available to help you learn about parental child abduction. If you’re dealing with an abduction, the better informed you are, the better equipped you’ll be to cope.

Recover your child

Time is of the essence. Parentally abducted children are helpless on their own and confused by the irrational and sometimes abusive acts of non-custodial parents who are supposed to have their best interests in mind. ABP World Group Ltd. has the manpower and the know-how to rigorously cover all avenues, and bring your child home.

Published by: ABP World Group International Child Recovery Service

Visit our web site at: www.abpworld.com

surfaces: layers of collected wisdom. such as this wall. within the casco antiguo in panama city, product of the last settlement from henry morgan in sixteen-seventynine. the material and elemental composition is but stains of experience and exposure. what you touch will mark, making a connection between your fingertip to such and the other way around. this stain that you easily wash off with soap will only allow it to transfer to another surface. in the end, there is no end but just a cyclical transferring of material within materials in different scales.

I found this posted by Alberto Lam a Panamanian designer and it made me smile.

After the cold of New York, walking outside of the airport and finding warm sunshine was really welcome! We took a taxi to our hostel with the taxi driver giving us a tour in broken English and Spanish, pointing out the president’s house, the main churches and the likes. It was really good and I think we instantly liked Panama. For want of a better way of describing it, we just got a good vibe from the place.

Our hostel wasn’t amazing but it was clean and had a fan in the room and staff who spoke no English. We felt like such idiots but I did become something of a pro at explaining myself without using words! The old town was beautiful, like what I imagine Cuba looks like. Half of the buildings were falling down but that only added to the charm. Richard and I spent a very pleasent afternoon strolling around, looking at the old town and sitting down and watching the ocean. All the locals were so laid back and music was blaring from everywhere. We made friends with a local niña and she cycled around our bench for about twenty minutes while we pratised our limited Spanish! We walked some more and could see all the big ships heading for the canal and then decided it was time for food. We ate in this fabulous restaurant near the water and had amazing dinners. I got some red fish and Richard had some sort of pasta dish that came out in tinfoil shaped as a swan. How very random. It’s three weeks since we left Panama now and looking back it seems crazy that we spent so much money on one dinner, around $50! Believe me, we haven’t been that silly since! The next day we had a massive lunch of chicken and rice from a little place where all the locals ate for about $2 each.

The Square in the Old Town

We had a lazy day the next day, reading, strolling around the old town and checking our emails. The locals were all friendly to us and always said hello so it was a bit strange when I read that area where we were staying was really dangerous. Just before we got a taxi to the airport, Richard spoke to a British guy in the hostel whose friends had been robbed at gunpoint the evening before. So many of these stories in Latin America. We got to the airport an hour and a half before our flight but still nearly missed it. The queues were massive and when we got to the desk, I wasn’t booked on the flight. Stupid STA. The Copa Airlines lady was really nice though and moved things around and got me a seat on the flight, thankfully. I ended up sitting beside a lovely Ecuadorian lady who was about seventy and although neither of us really spoke the other’s language, I still managed on filling out the forms to get into Ecuador for her.

View of the New Town, Panama City

Communicating with people through gestures is a new found talent of mine, I’m going to kick ass at charades from now on!

Que o verão já tá ae todo mundo sabe …

Mas nem todo mundo sabe que o hit do verão são os baphônicos chapéus Panamá…intão pode aposentar aquele chapéu tipo cawboy de palha e aposte em um Panamá…

There is a myth that Boquete has gotten “too expensive” which needs to be debunked. Yes, prices have gone up. Panama uses the US dollar as its currency and imports a lot of items, so as the US dollar has devalued prices have gone up. Like everyone else in the world, Panama is dependant on oil. As the price of oil has risen so has the cost of fuel, essential in an agricultural area like Chiriqui. Since Boquete has been “discovered” as the paradise that it is, land prices have gone up as well.

Expats like us have moved in and build foolishly large houses: who needs 4,500 sq ft for two people? OK, like a lot of people we got carried away building our dream home. But for a lot of perhaps more sensible folks, 4,500 sq feet of house to maintain and 4.5 acres of land to cultivate isn’t their dream of a relaxing retirement! There are nice, North American-style homes available on the market in Boquete ranging in price from $250,000 to several million dollars. But what if you can’t afford that? What if you don’t need, or that?

Take the house we’ve almost finished renovating for my brother. It was a simple house we originally built for our farm worker – block, tin roof, Panamanian-style windows [no glass, decorative concrete block]. We needed to have my brother close at hand to deal with some of his physical challenges, so we renovated it. He has a really cute house, about 1,100 square feet, very nicely done . . . and almost finished. We have some final painting touch up to do inside and out, but he has two bedrooms, a living room, a small kitchen with dining nook, walk-in closet, bathroom with washer and dryer. He has a nice yard . . . and our total cost $32,000.

Here’s how that breaks down:

If we had to buy 1000 sq meter lot at today’s price of $15/meter in Palmira $15,000
Original cost of the worker casita $8,000
Cost to renovate to “gringo” standard (i.e., hot water, washer, dryer, microwave, stove, refrigerator, nice windows, grills, metal doors, new electric, tile floor, hung ceiling) $9,000

$32,000 for a really cut little house in Palmira . . . 10 minutes from “downtown” Boquete.

You can buy a nice, small, buildable lot in the outskirts of Boquete for anywhere from $15 to $25 a square meter, if you look around. Many of these small, buildable parcels already have community water supply, electric, and public road access. [Buying a lot without electricity can cost you a small fortune to get connected!]

One expat gal in our community, facing a major change of life after divorce, and with virtually no money, you’ll meet a gal who created a whimsical “hobbit” home out of a dilapidated old worker’s shack. With a lot of creativity, and virtually no money, she created a unique, interesting, a fun little house!

Two other gals bought an old run-down Panamanian house beside the river, invested about $25,000 and have a cute little house . . . unfortunately it is right next to the river, which may not be such a good idea.

Another guy took two 40 foot shipping containers and made a unique dwelling. 40 foot containers run around $3,000 each delivered.

Today I received this . . . I’m not necessarily trying to sell this guy’s house . . . but just to show you what $59,000 will buy if you get a little outside Boquete proper . . .

Now I know it’s hard to read since I just had to work with what the guy posted. But you can click on the above images for a little better view . . . or email these guys at ctgage@shaw.ca or call them (in Canada) 250-423-3582. They can give you all the details.

The gal who cuts my hair has a nice home in Alto Boquete for sale for under $50K. These homes are around, you just have to look for them. That means coming to Panama, spending some time, if you don’t speak Spanish finding a local who can help you, and searching. Understand a real estate agent would naturally rather work with people who are buying $400,000 homes since they work on commission, but, if you said to someone . . . this is what I want. Find it and I’ll pay you $5,000 or $8,000 . . . they’d find it . . . and if they wouldn’t a dozen other people would.

Hoy Pedro Luis Martín Panamá, les trae una vista panorámica de Panamá. Espero La disfruten.

Pedro Luis Martín Panamá

El Festival de Música de Panamá Alfredo de Saint Malo es un proyecto creado por la Fundación Sinfonía Concertante de Panamá. Indica Pedro Luis Martín Olivares que fue creada con el propósito de reunir a músicos nacionales e internacionales en un gran intercambio cultural y artístico, a través de diversas actividades que enriquecen sus conocimientos y pasión musical.

La intención del Festival de Música de Panamá Alfredo de Saint Malo es preparar a los artistas panameños en el mundo de la música clásica mediante la promoción de la música de arte de la educación, la mejora de las tácticas de enseñanza y la creación de músicos del más alto nivel.

Este año Pedro Luis Martín tiene el honor de invitarnos a este festival dedicado al compositor de música clásica Roque Cordero, fallecido el 27 de diciembre de 2008, y quien fue asesor del festival en sus inicios.