Panama: New President, Global Challenges

The Americas Quarterly Podcast

Panama’s president-elect José Raúl Mulino assumes control of a country struggling with challenges that pertain not only to its population but to many other countries as well. Climate change is affecting the Panama canal and there is rising migration through the Darien Gap. Panama is also a theater for the U.S.-China competition. In today's episode we explore what to expect from Mulino's term in office regarding these and other issues, such as the copper mine that has been a center of controversy in the past year and what's next for Ricardo Martinelli, the former president who helped put Mulino in office while simultaneously hiding in the Nicaraguan embassy to escape a conviction for money laundering. Our guest is Mat Youkee, a journalist who has covered Latin America for many years and Panama since 2018.