December 2, 2005

Charges of Corruption and Repression Roil U. of Panama

By MIKE CEASER

The University of Panama, the country's largest public university with more than 65,000 students, has been rocked by allegations of corruption and repression of free speech in recent months.

Classes on the university's central campus, which has some 38,000 students, have lost about 25 teaching days since the semester's start on August 15, following student protests against international free-trade proposals and national economic-reform efforts. The cancellations have prompted charges