Events in the year 2020 in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Laurentino Cortizo Laurentino "Nito" Cortizo Cohen (; born 30 January 1953) is a Panamanian politician who has served as the President of Panama since 2019. Cortizo is the former President of the National Assembly and Minister of Agricultural and Livestock Devel ...

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

José Gabriel Carrizo José Gabriel Carrizo Jaén (born 25 June 1983) is a Panamanian politician who is serving as the Vice President of Panama since 1 July 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party The Democratic Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido ...

* President of the National Assembly: Marcos Castillero

Events

* 7 January – The

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

watershed is at its fifth driest in 70 years, according to the

Panama Canal Authority The Panama Canal Authority ( es, Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP)) is the agency of the government of Panama responsible for the operation and management of the Panama Canal. The ACP took over the administration of the canal from the Panama ...

. *5 February – Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo fires Security Minister Rolando Mirones and Government Minister Carlos Romero after the February 3 prison escape of Gilberto Ventura Ceballos. *9 February – The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) requests that foreigners be allowed to work in the country in order to promote economic development. *13 February – A new metro line will go under the

to reach western suburbs of

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

at a cost of US$2.5 billion. It is part of a $4 billion infrastructure project including a bridge over the canal. * 9 March – COVID-19 pandemic in Panama: The first confirmed case of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

in the country is reported. * 13 March – COVID-19 pandemic **The government declared a state of emergency. The move frees US$50 million for a period of 180 days to purchase goods and services to combat

. **Leaders of Panama,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic signed an agreement for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. *15 March – In a historic first, all

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

volunteers worldwide are withdrawn from their host countries. *28 March – COVID-19 pandemic: Panama and Costa Rica fail in attempts to move thousands of migrants from Africa, Asia, and Haiti amassed in shelters as a precaution against COVID-19. Panama has 901 confirmed infections and 17 deaths. *28 April – Juan Carlos Muñoz, vice-minister of the Presidency of Panama resigns after being accused of corruption. *29 April – Residents of Felipillo, Panama, block the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

for twelve hours, demanding the ''bono solidario'' (solidarity bonus) promised by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. *11 June – The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) reports a decrease in

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in Latin America, although there are fears that many cases are going undetected as sick people stay home instead of going to hospitals. Honduras, Panama, and Nicaragua report increases, the last by 25%. *9 July – COVID-19 pandemic: Panama reports 41,251 cases, which puts it in first place in Latin America for the number of infections based upon population, ahead of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Panama has 4,316,453 inhabitants for a rate of 104.6 cases per million inhabitants. *12 July – Dr. Maria Franca Tallarico, the head of health for the Americas regional office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warns that many Latin American countries have reduced efforts to combat

dengue fever outbreaks , dengue fever is believed to infect 50 to 100 million people worldwide a year with 1/2 million life-threatening infections. It dramatically increased in frequency between 1960 and 2010, by 30 fold.WHO 2009 pg.3 This increase is believ ...

. *25 July – COVID-19 pandemic: Mexico and Japan send medical supplies to ten Latin American countries, including Panamá, Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. *August 17 – COVID-19 pandemic: Panama reopens hair salons and churches. *4 September – An earthquake with a 5.6 magnitude strikes Panama and Costa Rica; no reported injuries or damages. * 11 September –

United States invasion of Panama The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos� ...

: Remains of victims of the 1989 invasion in Colón are exhumed for identification. *13 September – COVID-19 pandemic: Panama reports about 100,000 cases, higher than anywhere else in Central America. Panama is also the Central American country that has performed the most tests—389,000. *15 September – Governor Erick Martelo of

Guna Yala Guna Yala, formerly known as San Blas, is a '' comarca indígena'' (indigenous province) in northeast Panama. Guna Yala is home to the indigenous people known as the Gunas. Its capital is Gaigirgordub. It is bounded on the north by the Car ...

is forced to resign after being caught traveling in a car containing 79 packages of illegal drugs. *16 December – COVID-19 pandemic: Panama approves the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which is scheduled to be administered in the first trimester of

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. *24 December – COVID-19 Pandemic: Two hundred doctors arrive from Cuba to fight the virus.

Deaths

*August 2 –

Bobby Prescott George Bertrand "Bobby" Prescott (March 27, 1931 – August 2, 2020) was a Panamanian professional baseball player, an outfielder, first baseman and third baseman who had a 19-year career, from 1952–1970, in North American minor league baseball ...

, baseball player (b. 1931). *September 16 –

Apolonio Lombardo Apolonio Lombardo Rangel (26 January 1934 – 16 September 2020) was a Panamanian footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Lombardo played club football for Oratorio Festivo, Santander, Unión Ibérico, Unión Española Club Unión Es ...

, 86, footballer (

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

). *October 13 – , 76, Guna writer, academic and poet.

References

{{Latin America topic, 2020 in 2020s in Panama Years of the 21st century in Panama

Incumbents

Events

Deaths

See also

References