Panama Facts
The first female President of Panama was Mireya Moscoso, who was President from 1999 to 2004. |
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Written by Jamuna Burry
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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 06:06 |
 We continue with the final installment of our interview with well-known, local Panamanian, Roberto
Eisenmann. In this final portion of the interview we discuss his thoughts regardingthe education system in Panama, and the Coronado area.
We ask Mr. Eisenmann to touch on an issue that is close to his heart. Panama's education system. Eisenmann comments, “That's a major item we have to work on. The Ministry of Education is probably the worst bureaucracy we have in government.”
“As a result of this, people are left with the private school system as the only choice, and many cannot afford it,” he says. Eisenmann talked about setting up experimental public schools and following their lead in improving education. In his proposed project, schools would be set up in each province to help improve the education system. The leaders of each project would come together each month, compare notes and then implement what works. He cites as a precedent the fact that the Instituto Nacional, which was a public school, was always considered the best in Panama.
Mr. Eisenmann recounts how his parents sent him to school in the Canal
Zone in order for him to speak English well. His opinion is that he
ended up with good English but a high school education that failed him
when he went to the University of Pennsylvania for college. “I had a
terrible time getting through,” he says, commenting that Ivy League
school preparation usually requires going to a prep school.
The best high school education in Panama, according to Mr. Eisenmann,
was and is in Catholic schools, although there are now a couple of good
private schools. “Education is a major item,” he says. “You don’t have
social validity if you don’t have education. There’s a lot to be done.”
Mr. Eisenmann goes on to say that Panama has major problems in
education, health, transportation, and security. He says that the
security is better than in neighboring countries but not as good as
Panama was used to.
One cannot end an interview with Roberto Eisenmann without, of course,
discussing the other thing for which he is so well known: Coronado.
It was Robert Eisenmann’s father who founded the community on the
property which he owned with a partner. His grandfather, who was from
Alsace Lorraine, had previously settled in New Orleans.
“The name,” Eisenmann says, “is very Jewish and very German, but when
the family came to America, they felt very French.” As he says, “With
Alsace Lorraine, one day it was German and one day it was French
depending upon who won the war that week. My father’s partner was
Spanish, from Spain. They formed their business in 1904, a year after
the independence of Panama. They bought a lot of land speculatively
[including the area of Coronado Bay].”
Roberto Eisenmann’s father came to visit Panama, fell in love with the
area and bought the Coronado Bay land with a number of friends. One of
the friends had stayed at the Coronado Hotel in California and made the
suggestion of Coronado as a name for the area and it stuck.
His father sold the first batch of lots, and after 10 years, not one
property had been built on. When he sold again, construction became a
part of the contract. This stipulation is still in effect today only now
one must build on their lot within one year of the purchase date,
depending on whether or not the property is beachfront.
Roberto Eisenmann goes on to talk about his father’s passing and wanting
the family to retain Coronado and its development. He talks about the
family safeguarding and guiding Coronado over the years and how it will
be when the last of the available lots are sold and the family is no
longer involved in the daily affairs of Coronado.
Talking with Roberto Eisenmann is like getting a personal, guided tour
through the history of Panama. It is wonderful to be able to hear the
accounts firsthand and to truly get a sense of what it has been like for
the people of Panama. Roberto Eisenmann loves Panama. He loves it so
much that he endangered his life speaking up for freedom during the
dictatorship years and lived for years in exile.
Roberto Eisenmann, though no longer the publisher of La Prensa, still
writes a column. He has also written several books that are collections
of his columns. He often writes about political science; however, just
so that he is not too one dimensional, he sometimes writes about a
siesta in the hammock and people are more interested he says. The Birth
of a Nation, written by Roberto Eisenmann, was “more of a book,”
according to the author, than his prior ones. At this time in life, he
says that he is stepping back from public life and has, indeed, given up
a couple of jobs. However, it is difficult to imagine this man, with
the strong voice for freedom and deep love of liberty, straying too far
onto the sidelines of Panama’s public life. One would hope that his
voice is heard and his advice heeded as Panama moves forward.
End of article
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