Language

Okke Ornstein in Panamá

Wasting Away in Noriegaville

About Okke Ornstein

Personal Website
http://www.ornstein.org

Biography


Okke Ornstein is from the Netherlands where he worked for about 15 years in the wonderful world of television and radio before accidentally moving to Panama. Since then, he has been chased by gangsters and many unsuccessful attempts have been made to shut him up, have him thrown out of the country, or in jail for crimes against the honor. He published The Noriegaville News for some years (a combination of investigative journalism, satire, analysis and opinion) until threats were getting out of hand and he closed it down. His written work in English can be found in publications ranging from The Narco News Bulletin to NewsMax - for the latter he dodged sniper fire and car bombs in Kabul, among other things. None of this has stopped him from briefly becoming a consultant for the election campaign of Miguel Antonio Bernal, a well known human rights activist who ran for mayor of Panama City. Ornstein continues to work as a journalist for publications in and outside of Panama, is writing a book and runs the blog Bananama Republic and his own site at ornstein.org.

Okke Ornstein's Latest Comments

  • @Al: Micheletti to Panama?
    Reports of a Deal in Honduras Are Premature
    October 30, 2009 - 5:55pm
  • Hmmm
    Reports of a Deal in Honduras Are Premature
    October 30, 2009 - 4:49pm
  • @Al
    From the Ashes of Dying Newspapers Will Come Authentic News
    October 27, 2009 - 12:22pm
  • "Something else" - but what?
    From the Ashes of Dying Newspapers Will Come Authentic News
    October 26, 2009 - 12:59pm
  • A list?
    Surveillance Camera Footage of Honduras Coup Invasion of Channel 36
    October 8, 2009 - 1:42pm

Panama enters Colombian war

President Martinelli may be violating Canal Treaties

The time bomb I wrote about for Narco News nine years ago is about to go off.

Attentive observers could already see it coming when Panama announced it would build 11 "counter narcotics bases" and supposedly staff them all by itself: The government of supermarket baron Ricardo Martinelli is on a steady course of dragging the country into the armed conflict between the Colombian government and its allies on one side and the FARC guerrilla group on the other.The pretext is not just the usual counter narcotics spin, but the Panamanians are openly saying they want to fight Colombian insurgents in the border area.

Dutch vice-consul in Honduras reprimanded for coup support

Dutch publication Elsevier reported that the Dutch vice-consul in Tegucigalpa and family of the Honorary Consul, Ms. C.M. Klück-Baas, has been reprimanded by the Dutch Foreign Ministry for signing a letter by Dutch citizens to the Foreign Minister in support of the military coup.

War and Peace in Kuna Yala

This is how we know Panama's indigenous Kuna tribe from the tourist brochures: Peaceful people who make nice "molas". In reality their leaders are committing massive environmental crimes outside Kuna Yala and destroying property that is not theirs. This story is about the other side of the Kunas, their alliance with the Colombian FARC, their kidnappings of innocent campesinos, the rise of warlordism on the Caribbean coast, and the local authorities proposing "killing five or six of them" as a plausible solution.

Full story in The Isthmian

Mining Expert Says Petaquilla Likely Never In Production

The future doesn't look very bright for the Petaquilla open pit gold and copper mine projects in Panama. Even though the company issued a press release stating they would go in production this month, Latin American mining and commodity expert Otto Rock of Inca Kola News says that "full commission date is likely to be 'never'".

Environmental groups have long protested the destruction caused by the company that is led by Richard Fifer, an ex-governor under indictment for corruption. Indigenous people were chased off their land and explosions set off next to their homes without any kind of warning. MiningWatch Canada recently published a warning to shareholders, holding no punches denouncing Petaquilla's actions:

Trial against Posada Carriles liberators postponed

Friday, Nov. 7 2008

The trial against three high placed government officials of the Mireya Moscoso administration for abuse of power in the release of terrorist Luís Posada Carriles has been postponed until November 24, La Prensa reports.

According to the newspaper, one of the accused was on a business trip outside Panama today.

Ex-minister of Government & Justice Arnulfo Escalona, the former director of the National Police Carlos Barés and the former sub-director of Immigration Javier Tapia are facing charges of abuse of authority. They are accused of releasing convicted terrorist Luís Posada Carriles and his accomplices hours before then President Mireya Moscoso pardoned them on the last day of her administration.

Read the story in The Isthmian.

Emerald Passport MLM Scheme Deploys Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard to Panama

Monday's foiled assassination plot against Barack Obama and more than a hundred others shows that racially motivated terrorism by white supremacists is no imaginary threat. In that light, it is all the more surprising that former Canadian Ku Klux Klan "Grand Wizard" and convicted coup plotter James Alexander McQuirter, while not allowed to enter the United States, is freely entering the strategic Republic of Panama where he supposedly hosts seminars for a shadowy multi-level marketing scheme "Emerald Passport" - right next to the Canal.

Read the full story here.

McCain Can Still Become President..... of Panama!

Panama City, Panama - Many will remember the controversy about John McCain's citizenship as opponents of his candidacy alleged that since he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, he would not be eligible to run for the US presidency. Eventually the issue was settled, but one related truth fell through the cracks: Under Panamanian law, McCain is a naturally born Panamanian citizen. Panama never recognized the Canal Zone as part of a foreign nation but regards it as having always been part of Panama, but under foreign occupation. As such, McCain is fully entitled to run for President of the Republic of Panama during the upcoming May 2009 elections. Instead of returning to Arizona, as the candidate recently stated he would do after losing in November, he should consider putting his country first and move his campaign down south. Here's why:

Unusual Press Freedom Victory in Panama

A Panama City judge today dismissed a case of criminal defamation brought against Eric Jackson, publisher of The Panama News and based on a complaint filed by one Mark Boswell.

Boswell, who is also known as "Rex Freeman" filed his complaint for "crimes against the honor" after Jackson had published an article about him calling him an "offshore hustler" and a "scammer" who was running unlicensed and probably fraudulent banking and High Yield Investment schemes in Panama after having fled creditors in Costa Rica.

FARC's Options

Things haven't been going very well for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) over the last year. Missile attacks, bombardments, killing of several leaders, the death of Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda Vélez, desertions, that Dutch girl who left her diaries lying around and of course the sneaky plot to free Ingrid Betancourt and a couple of US mercenaries.

Opinions differ on what plans the US-Colombia axis may have with the rebel force. Raúl Zibechi writes on the website of the Center for International Policy:

Panama Supreme Court Ruling May Leave Lawyers and Money Launderers Jobless


Panama's Supreme Court took a decision the 17th of this month in a libel case brought by HSBC bank USA/Panama against a Canadian expatriate that has far reaching consequences for the country's (in)famous banking and corporate secrecy which has made it a money laundering and tax dodging haven over the years.

The decision will hit hard in that - substantial - part of the offshore finance business where secrecy is essential for survival: (drug) money laundering and (corporate) tax evasion. Investigations and arrests of narco kingpins invariably lead to Panama where drug trade profits are laundered and then hidden in numerous corporate structures. The real estate construction boom thrives on dirty money, and the DEA described the industry as follows:

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Reporters' Notebooks

About Okke Ornstein

Personal Website
http://www.ornstein.org

Biography


Okke Ornstein is from the Netherlands where he worked for about 15 years in the wonderful world of television and radio before accidentally moving to Panama. Since then, he has been chased by gangsters and many unsuccessful attempts have been made to shut him up, have him thrown out of the country, or in jail for crimes against the honor. He published The Noriegaville News for some years (a combination of investigative journalism, satire, analysis and opinion) until threats were getting out of hand and he closed it down. His written work in English can be found in publications ranging from The Narco News Bulletin to NewsMax - for the latter he dodged sniper fire and car bombs in Kabul, among other things. None of this has stopped him from briefly becoming a consultant for the election campaign of Miguel Antonio Bernal, a well known human rights activist who ran for mayor of Panama City. Ornstein continues to work as a journalist for publications in and outside of Panama, is writing a book and runs the blog Bananama Republic and his own site at ornstein.org.