"Channel Authority is lying and trying to divert attention on the issue of privatization"

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has denied allegations of attempts to privatize tugboat services, published by unions of pilots, tug captains, deck officers and engineers of the waterway. But Captain Cristóbal Falques, general secretary of The Union of Captains and Officers of Cover (UCOC), says that the Channel Authority, in a blatant way, is lying and trying to divert attention on the issue of privatization. The unions say “Quijano and Roy's master plan is being implemented with such impudence that private companies that would benefit from this privatization already have tugs in Panamanian waters, all awaiting modification of the navigation regulations. This seems to be only the beginning of a well-orchestrated plan whose purpose is for the Panama Canal to produce millionaire businesses for a few, even to the detriment of its efficiency and ability to generate wealth for the nation.”