An Interview with the New Mayor of Chame

With the current election, the municipality of Chame elected a new Mayor 28-year old, Nieves Mayorga, who is the daughter of the former Mayor of Chame, Euclides Mayorga. Euclides served as Chame’s Mayor for seven consecutive terms – that’s thirty-five years. During the last administration, Euclides Mayorga was charged with corruption and was sentenced to three years in La Joya, a Panamanian prison. Nieves, who holds a Masters degree in logistics, decided to run for mayor when her father’s conviction came down. “When I was 12 or 13, I told my father, I wanted to be a deputy or a congresswoman. He said, “No, politics are dirty, and they will eventually make you dirty too.”  She continued, “But that happens when the good people do not engage in politics. When good people get involved, you see things change.”  

Both Nieves and her father belong to the Panameñista Party, which is the same party as the president elect, Juan Carlos Varela. Even though the representatives of the smaller towns that make up the Chame area belong to opposing parties, Nieves is confident everyone is interested in the greater good. She says, “I do not think they will oppose the welfare of the community.”  

When asked what changes she intends to initiate in the community. 

Nieves said,  “I spent eight months walking through the district, visiting the 11 corregimientos (neighbourhoods); I saw water problems, housing problems and waste management problems. For example, in Gorgona there are luxury high-rises surrounded by houses made of corrugated metal that do not even have a latrine. These people have nothing. I want to tackle these problems in my first year of administration.”

Then speaking to how she planned to mitigate crime, Nieves responded, “First, I want to support neighborhood watch programs by organizing meetings within the districts. I want the community to be concerned about what happens to their neighbor. Second, I will support sports programs for youth. I want to do so by providing the equipment they need to play sports. This way they don’t have to worry about buying footballs, cleats or uniforms.”

Nieves feels that the improvements she wants to make will be better supported with the Varela government in power.

With Varela’s victory, Nieves also expects her father to be out of jail and on house arrest. Recently, Nieves appointed her father as her political aide. While remarks from the expat community expressed their disapproval of this action, locals seemed less concerned.

A long-time residents of the Chame district said, “Euclides has been Mayor for so many years and the community is happy with him”. This support was clearly reflected in the votes. Euclides’ daughter won by a high margin, and she believes she did so by connecting her campaign to her father.

On her ballot she was ‘Nieves ‘Si si si’ Mayorga’. In our interview with her, she told us why: “My dad speaks very fast and he always helped people who came to him at the mayor’s office. When someone asked for something he would say quickly, “Sí, sí, sí,” so people began calling him “Sí, sí, sí Mayorga!” 

“I used that slogan on my ballot, so that people could easily associate me with my father.”
 
We asked how her father’s situation affected her candidacy, Nieves replied: “When I decided to run for Mayor, I received phone calls threatening to send my father to La Joya if I didn’t give up candidacy”. However instead of stopping Nieves, it served as motivation. “ My father told me to follow through even if they made Coiba a prison again, and sent him there”.
 
We asked Nieves how a political career is affecting her?

The new mayor told us that she has sacrificed a lot to do what she is doing. She believes that the changes she wants to make can be accomplished within her five-year term.  “In the last eight months I have sacrificed a lot. I would arrive home at 11:00 p.m. and my husband and daughter would be sleeping. I would leave early the next morning, before they woke up.”

As we enter a new administration, we are hopeful that Nieves Mayorga’s fresh approach will create the positive changes for the district of Chame. We remain positive that she is “one of the good people” she spoke about as she begins her five-year term as mayor.