Says Juan David Morgan, an outstanding Panamanian lawyer and writer

How does Juan David Morgan portray himself? «I’m a Panamanian lawyer and writer, a family man. My many trips to other parts of the world for business or literary reasons have only underscored the profound feelings I have for my country and my own turf, my hometown province of Chiriqui.»

If you had the chance of revealing Panama to the eyes of the world, how would you define your country? «Panama is perhaps the Spanish-speaking country of the Americas where the concept of national identity first took roots. Its entire history has been conditioned by its geographical location and for being the narrowest strip of land between two oceans. That explains why we’ve basically been a service-providing nation with an economy open to the entire world. Today, we’re bound to cope with the tough reality of being rich in the Canal zone and very poor in the hinterlands. As long as we’re not able to overcome that reality, we’ll never turn out to be the developed nation we should have been by now. «With less than 3 million inhabitants in a surface of barely 30,000 square miles, we boast one of the world’s commercially busiest inter-oceanic canals, the region’s number-one banking center and free trade zone, seaports on both oceans –they have been growing steadily since the canal’s administration was transferred to Panamanian authorities and was privatized- a sudden tourism boom with earnings way over those raked in by the Canal. However, we’re still a country where 40 percent of the population lives under the poverty line. «We have failed and now in the face of the new megabuck projects we’re involved in, like the enhancement of the Canal, it’s time for the Panamanian people to come together for the future, a future that rules out nobody, especially the marginal classes.»