Good afternoon Mr. @RichardMNephew
Tomorrow you will arrive in Panama and you will find a country in convulsion, because the Panamanian people are fighting for the company First Quantum Minerals, Ltd., to stop plundering natural resources and destroying the entire ecosystem.
That company already has a history of corruption in other countries where it has operated and unfortunately Panama does not escape its corruption schemes.
The Panamanian people have a strong suspicion that the company has committed $300 million in bribes to the Panamanian authorities and that is the main reason why First Quantum has been operating illegally for 5 years and stealing our copper, gold, molybdenum and others minerals, without paying a cent to the Treasury of the Republic.
Mr. Nephew, I am sending you this brief message so that you have advance knowledge of the situation, because it is likely that the @USEmbPAN or Ambassador Aponte herself will pick you up at the airport and will tell you that she is very pleased that the contract has been approved by the National Assembly and Law 406 was sanctioned, by which the contract comes into force.
That will be the version of Ambassador Aponte and all the Panamanian officials with whom you have the opportunity to meet.
Instead of talking to officials who are not going to confess to you that they are participating in the corruption scheme, I suggest that you ask to fly over the mining area, so that you can capture the severity of the damage and devastation with your own eyes.
The most serious thing about all this, is that the area in which the mining activity is being carried out is part of the “Original” Hydrographic Basin of the Panama Canal. That original basin was cut by Law 20, of June 21, 2006 and one of the signatories in his capacity as Minister of Canal Affairs was Mr. Vásquez, who today is the @PanamaCanall Administrator. Mr. Vásquez was part of a conspiracy to strip the canal of the western part of its basin, to be used for mining exploitation.
The most compelling evidence of this conspiracy in which the PRD (current ruling party) also participated is that neither Mr. Vásquez nor the Canal Board of Directors, lifted a finger to defend the canal from the threats and devastation represented by the mining exploitation.
Unfortunately, the expedited approval of the contract and Law 406 sanctioned by President Cortizo lack legality, because it violates more than 25 articles of the constitution and other laws of the Republic, including the Public Procurement Law.
Now, both the Executive and the Legislative branches are in contempt of the National Constitution, which is why they lose legitimacy and the Panamanian people have the right to protest and demand the resignation of the President of the Republic, the entire cabinet, the Administrator Vásquez, from @canaldepanama with the entire Board of Directors and the closing of the National Assembly. Under these irregular conditions created by the government itself, it is up to the Supreme Court of Justice to take charge of the government temporarily and until this period of government ends.
I hope that your visit to Panama fulfills your objectives of combating corruption and that the Congress and Senate of the United States of America will be informed of your findings.
On behalf of the Panamanian people, I thank you for all your efforts to eradicate the cancer that is devouring the democracies in Panama and Latin America.
Respectfully,
Raymark Clément, P.E.
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