I'm John Batchel with my colleague, Professor Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army War College.

Singapore of Latin America, so says the Financial Times that was a way of describing Panama's potential.

I didn't know.

So that would be a very positive thing.

But right now we have

rumor. We have reports of more strikes, more labor strife. This involving Chequita,

Swiss-based Chequita, the banana transporter. And also we have questions about the Panama Canal raised by President Trump, also about

the question of China's influence in the country. So we have several issues going in different

directions. The Financial Times writes this paragraph, which I find significant, many fear that conservative president

Jose Raul Molino elected last year with a thin mandate may not have what it takes to pull

the country back from the brink. What is the brink, professor? This strike, is this a threat to

the stability of the country? Well, John, you raise a great issue.

There have been a series of protests over evolving issues. It began with complaints over Molino's

changes to the social security system, really especially instigated by a far-left,

you know, communist-affiliated labor union called Sun Tracks,

which has been behind a series of strikes over, you know, recent years on different issues.

It's now evolved to, you know, a broader series of complaints.

But as you talked about, John, Panama is not only strategically important, you know, in, you know,

for the United States for transit, but has also become a global finance and logistics hub.

Really going back to the development of Panama with the Panama Canal and U.S. administration,

Panama has long been, you know, although imperfect, one of the centers of good governance and,

you know, economic motors in the region. And so certainly that Singapore potential is well

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