July 06, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Some people in Panama believe a new free trade agreement with the United States will help the country's poor, according to a poll by Dichter & Neira published in La Prensa. 38.6 per cent of respondents think poverty will decrease once the deal is implemented, while 31.6 per cent believe it will stay the same.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Some people in Panama believe a new free trade agreement with the United States will help the country's poor, according to a poll by Dichter & Neira published in La Prensa. 38.6 per cent of respondents think poverty will decrease once the deal is implemented, while 31.6 per cent believe it will stay the same.

Martín Torrijos—the son of Omar Torrijos, an army general who ruled Panama from 1968 to 1981—won the May 2004 presidential election as a candidate for the Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) with 47.44 per cent of the vote.

On Jun. 28, the U.S. and Panama signed a free trade deal that will, among other things, eliminate tariffs on almost 90 per cent of U.S. consumer and industrial exports to Panama.

On Jul. 4, Torrijos summoned legislators to hold extraordinary sessions until Jul. 11 in order to ratify the treaty. Vice-president and foreign affairs minister Samuel Lewis Navarro told a press conference that the cabinet has already accepted the deal, adding, "This treaty will improve our country's strategic position in the region and will increase agricultural and industrial exports into the United States, which has 300 million people with high purchase power."

Polling Data

Do you expect poverty in Panama to increase, decrease or stay the same after the free trade agreement with the United States is in place?

Increase	19.8%
Stay the same	31.6%
Decrease	38.6%

Source: Dichter & Neira / La Prensa
Methodology: Interviews with 1,218 Panamanian adults, conducted from Jun. 15 to Jun. 17, 2007. Margin of error is 2.9 per cent.