I welcome this news. This should keep out most or all of the Panamanian legislatures, many judges, the president, and all her crooked cabinet. The last paragraph holds a lot of truth: But, unless Washington does something about corrupt executives of U.S. firms handing out bribes or receiving dirty deposits, it will be seen abroad as an example of U.S. hypocrisy.
Taking away a person’s U.S. visa is, believe it or not, great punishment. One month after Bush became president, the last ex president of Panama had his U.S. visa lifted for trafficking in illegal immigrants to the U.S. He claims he did nothing wrong (HA! They never do). His legal representative, by the way, is shyster Greg Craig’s law firm in Washington D.C. The ex admits this has caused him GREAT PERSONAL EMBARRASSMENT because not everybody is granted a visa. This, therefore, puts him in the “not everybody” class. I still laugh every time I think about this.
Thank you for the post.
It's also good to hear that the US plans to be stricter on the matter of US companies that "go native" by giving out bribes for contracts. Being really firm on this matter is like refusing to negotiate for hostages: it's going to be difficult, and there may be losses, but ultimately it will result in the end of the practice. US companies that give bribes, often in the form of mysterious transfers to "corporations" hastily constituted on some tiny island, and most often to the heads of the LatAm corporations with whom they wish to do business (sometimes to regulatory authorities, as well), are simply keeping the practice alive and even upping the ante. (An inflationary spiral in the buying of Latin American corporate and government officers?)
I think our failure to use immigration and banking laws to try to put the brakes on corruption in Latin America is something that has significantly undercut our efforts there.