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Panama: New Law Establishes Ministry of Culture

· Written by Ariel Moreno Translated by Negarra Akili

Categories: Latin America, Panama, Arts & Culture, Citizen Media, Governance

On April 24, 2012, the Panamanian National Assembly approved the “Law of Culture”, which among other things elevates the National Institute of Culture [1][es] to the Ministry of Culture. The main sponsor of the law, Deputy Jose Blandon (@BlandonJose [2]) [es] announced it yesterday on Twitter:

En pocos minutos se aprobará en Tercer Debate el Proyecto de Ley General de Cultura. Sólo faltará la sanción del Ejecutivo.

In a few minutes the Third Debate Project of the General Culture Law will be approved. The only thing missing is the approval of the Executive.

In Panama, for a law to take effect, it must first be approved by the Assembly of Deputies and then sanctioned by the executive (the president and his ministers)

Panamaon [3] [es] reminds readers of Deputy Blandon's intentions in presenting the law:

“Queremos que sea un proceso ampliamente participativo en donde haya la mayor consulta posible, por eso vamos a citar y a invitar a participar a todos aquellos que tengan interés en que Panamá tenga una moderna ley de cultura que permita explotar todo el potencial que la cultura puede tener para el país”,

“We want it to be a broadly participatory process in which there is the greatest consultation possible and for this reason we are going to single out and invite everyone that is interested in Panama having a modern culture law that will allow us to explore all the potential that culture can have for a country”,
[4]

Traje tradicional, "pollera" panameña". Imagen de usuario de Flickr whl.travel (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The reactions on Twitter were that of gratitude and support for the new law. Although certain people like Nicole Rubatino (@nickolin26 [5]) [es], recalled that this law, even though it hasn't been sanctioned, could have the same luck as the 308 law [6]that intended to protect domestic animals.

Despues de todo, la Ley de Cultura q incluye?? Seguro la aprobaron porq no hay conflicto d intereses como #Ley308 [7]

After all, what does the Culture law include?? I am sure they approved it because there weren't any conflict of interests like #Ley308 [7]

Zaida Amelie (@zaida_amelie [8]) [es] celebrated the approval of the law because “it was time”:

Tenemos ley de cultura!!! Wow!!! Me encanto ya era hora de darle valor a este sector super importante de mi Panama!!!

We have the culture law!!! Wow!!! I loved it, it was time to give value to this super important sector of my Panama!!!

Annette Caicedo (@annettec14 [9]) [es] congratulated the current director of the National Institute of Culture and noted that the approval of the law demonstrated that there were good people in the government.

No sabia que ya se habia aprobado la ley de la cultura! Felicidades Maruja Herrera eso demuestra que tambb hay gente buena en el gob.

I didn't know that the the Culture Law had already been approved! Congratulations Maruja Herrera this demonstrates that there also good people in the government.

And although the law is now awaiting presidential approval, Panamanians are celebrating that slowly legislators are beginning to take steps towards greater cultural protection in Panama.