Article
Spanish
ID: <
10670/1.o97t3j>
Abstract
stimulated by international demand for goods and services, Panama’s economy grew by 9.5 % in 2007, the highest rate in the region. The economic boom, however, occurs amid a delicate social situation, which the political system inherited from the military dictatorship does not seem capable of confronting. The government of President Martín Torrijos has been successfully handled in accordance with the formal and informal rules of that system, including clientelism and the centralisation of powers in the executive, to the detriment of accountability. His inability to meet social debt could, however, contribute to serious problems for the country in the not too distant future.