The president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, vetoed a law that created a Ministry of Culture, adopted by consensus by the Panamanian Parliament.

The law 412 of culture was vetoed in its entirety by the president, before he travelled to Greece. This action caused outrage and complaints.

The motion is 'unconstitutional' and 'inconvenient' because it would create a Ministry of Culture, part of the functions reserved for the president. Inconvenient because there is no money for the culture fund (5 million dollars from the central government, mainly from taxes), justified the president.

'There can be no public spending that has not been authorized or any credit that is not budgeted', Martinelli stated.

But in a country that seems to have a love of pharaonic works, promoting culture is not unreasonable, the critics say.

 'It seems that the government is only interested in the issues that generate confrontation or where there are business opportunities for their relatives', claimed Deputy Jose Isabel Blandon, a proponent of the law.

Still, Edward Noel, part of the drafting committee of the law, was not surprised by the decision of Martinelli.

"The state is left exposed and this is a delay," stated Noel. Behind him, a wide range of personalities on Twitter disapproved the decision to roll back a rule passed unanimously and analyzed for about ten years, including in accordance with international organizations.

Molly Herrera, the dancer in charge for the management of INAC for the last three years, only says that the president "has every right '.

"We must respect the decision. That's it. The artists will be artists and INAC, INAC 'she replied, marking distance with the decision of the president.

-You agreed with the law. . . . What will you do?

- Well, one thing is what you want and what can be done is another. I think that more than one ministry we need a  high-ranking minister. There's need for dialogue.

But the blow to the cultural law that sought to bring Panama to the same level with cities like Medellin and Bilbao, Spain, generates more questions. Curiously, the government is promoting the construction of a 50-million-dollar City of the Arts, near the Metropolitan Park.

"It's contradictory," says Noel. Maruja refutes: 'this has been decided and the project is a government commitment.

http://laestrella.com.pa/online/impreso/2012/06/08/panama-se-queda-sin-ley-de-cultura.asp