MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rammell visits Panama and Virgin Islands

Bill Rammell, Foreign Office Minister for Latin America and Overseas Territories left for on August 31 for a two day visit, followed by a three day visit to the British Virgin Islands.

Speaking ahead of his trip, Mr Rammell said: 'I am looking forward to visiting Panama for the first time for the inauguration of President Martin Torrijos. The UK and Panama enjoy a strong relationship: the UK is the largest foreign investor in Panama and we share similar goals, including close cooperation on drug trafficking and money laundering.'

Incoming president Martin Torrijos is the U.S.-educated son of former leader Omar Torrijos who managed to recover the Panama Canal from the United States during the Carter administration. He will be immediately confronted with the tasks of patching up broken relations with Cuba and turning the Canal into an enhanced motor for development.

Mr. Torrijos succeeds conservative Mireya Moscoso who just last week pardoned four Cuban exiles implicated in an alleged November plot to kill Fidel Castro. As a result Cuba broke diplomatic relations immediately. Torrijos criticized the pardon, and says he wants to get relations with Havana back to normal as soon as possible.

Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez is a leftist friend and admirer of Castro, withdrew its ambassador to Panama, and those ties also will have to be mended.

The younger Torrijos will also be faced with the challenge of using the Panama Canal and adjacent lands to spur economic growth, which includes a possible expansion of the interoceanic waterway at an estimated cost of $5 billion.

He has pledged to maximize the potential of the Canal, the country's leading source of revenue, and make Panama the trade nexus of the Americas.

Other priorities on the new administration's agenda include creating jobs, fighting corruption and improving public safety, all of which formed the foundation of Torrijos' campaign platform.

However Mr. Torrijos' most pressing task will be reducing poverty - which affects 40% of the Central American country's 3 million inhabitants.