Colombia and Panama together vs. FARC

This is the kind of cooperation that gets results.

Colombian and Panamanian authorities are working together to target the FARC 57th Front, specifically going after Gilberto 'El Becerro' Torres Muñeton, the commander of that Front responsible for holding open corridors across the border to get drugs out and arms in.

Here's hoping for a successful operation.

Good news from Panama's election

Well, here's hoping so.

The general sense in the international media, to cite one example, looks very promising; that Ricardo Martinelli of the Democratic Change (CD) party has a solid lead over Balbina Herrera of the incumbent Revolutionary Democratic (PRD) party, his closest rival, going into today's Presidential and Legislative election.

If victory favors the CD, then Panama will likely accelerate its swing to the Conservative side, which matters a lot when one remembers how many friends have been bought by Venezuela's H. Chavez in his pursuit of regional hegemony. A strong, independent Panama is a great neighbor for Colombia, and a very fine guardian of the Panama Canal.

For those interested, *here* is Angus Reid Global Monitor's election tracker for this contest.

FARC arrest reveals their operations in Panama

The Panama Star reports that Luis Orovio Lobon, aka “Mello,” in a house in Aguablanca, Cali has now provided documented proof of the FARC drug-and-gun smuggling in Darien along the Panama-Colombia border.

This was a bonus find, frankly, as the Colombian authorities were backtracking a link hoping it led to "Mono Jojoy", Jorge Briceño Suarez, the current priority-number-one FARC leader targeted by the authorities.

The arrest of "Mello" may also finally solve the case of the kidnapping of Juan Cecilio Padron, a Cuban-American, which has been attributed to the FARC.

Since the capture of the "Raul Reyes" computer files, it has been abundantly clear that FARC operatives have long-established activities from Panama through Costa Rica on north as far as Mexico. In several cases now, those operations have been interrupted or shut down by law-enforcement actions.

Here's hoping that this arrest will accelerate the dismantlement of the FARC's Panama operations.