PANAMA: Today, Not Tomorrow .

"The word mañana will be erased from our administration," Panama's new President José Antonio ("Chichi") Remón told a crowd of 20,000 Panamanians in his inaugural address last week. Taking over a government that is $40 million in debt, Chichi promised a brisk, businesslike administration, fairer and more efficient tax collections, and a realistic budget that would permit Panama to live within its means. Most of those means are derived from the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal, which bisects his tiny (pop. 805,000) isthmian country; the new President said that cordial relations with the U.S. will be the keystone of...