I’m happy to live in a country where one of the best and most transparent electorate systems operates. Panama’s Electoral Tribunal is recognized by the OEA as an example of how similar institutions should operate. Sure, there are black spots here and there, but all in all no one can accuse the ET for being corrupt. So, why is it that every time I go out to vote I feel like it’s a fool’s errand? The political landscape, on a global scale, seemed dire and pessimistic for almost a decade. It could be argued that the people themselves, specifically in the United States, paid for their mistakes in electing George W. Bush not once, but twice. It can also be argued that because people chose, Hugo Chavez can now be the President of Venezuela indefinitely. I’m nowhere near as knowledgeable in these matters to make an informed opinion on those or any other political events happening around the world, but I can point out the moment where the world just about had enough of the abuse, and it has a name: Barack Hussein Obama II. No matter how you feel about the guy, you have to admit that it was an example of how people can come together and take the power back from those who took it away from them. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, this event waltzed in and injected a whole planet full of hope. Suddenly, one of the most powerful countries in the world, one that had seen itself be despised and alienated from most of the world, was given a clean slate. It took a historical event for it to happen, and the world saw it as a sign of growth. From a sociocultural standpoint, it’s a beautiful thing and it fills me with hope for humanity.

Back in my neck of the woods, on May 3rd, 2009 the general elections were held; a new President, Mayors, Senate and Representatives were elected that day. Coming out of a presidency that underperformed only because its people demanded more than it was realistically possible to do, the options available were met with an acute lack of inspiration: looking at the ballots while I was voting, I felt like I had reached the buffet line too late and all the good stuff was already taken. I’d have to settle for what I saw before me, having to pick chicken wings when I really wanted a T-Bone Steak. This sentiment was widespread: asking my friends, students and otherwise, the support for President Ricardo Martinelli was unanimous even though oftentimes it sounded like they voted for him because everybody else would and he was going to win anyway. As of this writing he hasn’t taken office yet so I can’t say if he’ll be one to kick this country into shape or not, but at this moment he seemed to be the best options out of the ones we were given, when the options weren’t that good to begin with. All three candidates had a crux going against them.

PRD Party’s Balbina Herrera had the most obstacles going against her, with her ties to former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, lack of consistency in her answers, the former President (also PRD) not living up to the Utopian standards put upon him, and the list goes on. Former President Guillermo Endara Galimani was perceived as a crazy old coot; pushing past 80 and his interviews sounding like a gag reel from the Benny Hill show didn’t help matters, along with the unnecessary turmoil going on within his party. Who’s going to vote for you when you can’t even agree with your own Vice Presidential candidate? Finally, there’s Martinelli: a certified schizophrenic and brilliant businessman whose hand is on every mayor industry in Panama. Powerful men only want more power, so the idea of putting a man like him in the Presidential chair wasn’t the most appealing to most, making him a laughing stock in the 2004 elections. A very clever, slow-burning marketing campaign and a hostile takeover of the second-biggest political party in the country later, and the 2009 saw Martinelli win with a whopping 60% of the total tally. People were tired of the bullshit, and he was the one with the least baggage. It also helped that his marketing team made the other candidates look like silly nincompoops. The connecting threads between Obama’s campaign and Martinelli’s are somewhat obvious; they’re both seen as agents of change, and their marketing campaigns were stellar, adapting themselves to what the landscape threw at them.

The similarities end there, though. Aside from the obvious, Obama is a man who’s prepared in every sense of the word. I hate to bring the whole Obama/Superhero analogy into the mix, but what he brings to the table is not unlike what Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, brings as the leader of the Avengers. He’s a wholesome guy with good values who doesn’t hide anything. He’s honest, steadfast and decided, but calm and collected. His words have a weight to them, a genuine quality that is a breath of fresh air. In many countries people have gotten tired of being treated like idiots by their governments and electing people like Obama (and by proxy, Martinelli) are direct results of that. I know for a fact that I’d run into a burning building if Obama told me it was necessary, not because he’s an American or a President but because he’s a man that inspires trust. Trust that in this day and age is very difficult to come by. I don’t care if you come from the US, Panama or Melmac; I’ll trust you if your words have that monumental degree of confidence. No red tape, no bullshit. Martinelli though, is not a speaker. He does not have a way with words, and his marketing campaign knows that. I’m sure he has the best intentions (or maybe I’ve been brainwashed already; hard to say) but when I hear Martinelli speak my bullshitometer can’t help but spike up. I am so desperate to trust someone though, that I give him the benefit of the doubt: his businesses are well-run, and if he can do the same for my country, then so be it. I don’t care what you have to do, as long as my country is better at the end of this.

Having this sense of defeat, though, settling with this option that doesn’t feel like the best one, feels so fundamentally wrong. Call it patriotism or a basic desire for fairness, but I believe my country deserves better fucking options. One of my snips around election time was how much I wanted the ballots to have a blank option so I could fill in who I thought should be the president. It would feel more fair because then I would’ve been able to postulate my left testicle since I’ve known him all my life and, out of his team, is the one who calls the shots, so to speak. He hasn’t gotten the Federation of States of Rob Rivera into any real trouble in all this time, and I’d trust him with my life (literally).

Trust. It’s what it all comes down to. Without it, we’d be knee-deep in anarchy. It’s such a basic requirement for interaction between ourselves and us with the world around us, but somewhere along the way we got too self-absorbed and afraid that we made some pretty shitty decisions. I’m not suggesting some Libertarian utopia (that would require an advanced degree of trust that we, as people, have many decades to go in order to reach it), but I believe it’d be a great start if we could just set our differences aside and give ourselves a shot here. Be it in regards to your new president, your new job, your friends or opportunities you’re too afraid to take. If you can vote for someone you know only through what you see on TV, hear on the radio or read on the internet, then you have some degree of trust in your bones. Maybe you should apply it to the world around you. Talk. Express yourself. Show the people you care about how much they mean to you. I find it fucking ridiculous how difficult it is for most people (and in some cases, even myself) to express how they feel about something, be it the state of their country or their interpersonal relationships. If you can vote, you can do so many things you have no idea.

2009 will go down in history as a year of change for many. Whether it’s good or bad is up to you, I guess. In terms of the political arena, people have finally realized that we are the ones with the power, and not those in office. And even though this power is not entirely ours or genuine, we have to settle with whatever we get. It feels great either way. The best thing about being in control is having the ability to trust others with it, when need be; I’d like to believe that the reason why a President is elected is because the majority of the people trust that he will look after a country’s best interests. That doesn’t mean we should leave them to their own devices, because trusting someone shouldn’t equal being an idiot. Still, as you can see the matter gets more and more complex the more I get into it. I should trust, but how much is too much? How can one trust and not be an idiot? I don’t want to be an idiot, but I want to trust so what the hell do I do? The answers to these and many other related questions don’t have a definite answer, and they never really will have answers we’ll be entirely satisfied with. C’est la vie. It’s what happens when everyone wants control, be it of a country, themselves, others or situations. If you want a taste of absolute control, I suggest sticking yourself in an island and running it any which way you like… it’s worked for the Castros for half a century. If not, then playing ball with the rest of us is the only thing left to do. Of course, this doesn’t mean that there can’t be a middle ground where everyone can be content… as long as we trust each other.

If you’re a Panamanian or are interested on how Panama’s politics will pan out from this election forward, I kindly suggest you bookmark Tu Politica. As for solutions to your trust issues, I don’t have a site for it. My apologies.